10 Little Things
by HPincognito247
Summary: Troy finds ten little things he loves about Gabriella. T&G.
1. Clothes

**A/N:** So this is something I've been sitting on top of for a few weeks now. I considered writing it, considered deleting it, and then considered just finishing it for my own personal whatever and never publishing it. I still don't know if it's the best idea in the world to be posting it, but god knows when AIS will be updated, and don't even get me started on Sunburn, so here's a little something.

A while ago, I read an article entitled "25 Little Things You do That Guys Secretly Love", and this idea formed. I tried writing 25, but it didn't work out, so I'll give you ten. The thing that makes me nervous about this story is the occupation of Troy, and how similar it is that of another Troy floating around, written by the amazing Dani (Pandora147) in her story The Simple Need. His job has little to nothing to do with the plot, however, I didn't want to just have him be in the NBA like I've done in other stories, so this kinda just...happened. Seriously, her story is a million times better than this story ever will be, so if you're looking for an amazing Rockstar!Troy, read that one. Like now.

Anyways, without further ado, I give you **10 Little Things...**

**

* * *

**

"_I travel a lot for work. When I come home from a trip, I often find that my fiancée has been wearing whatever sweater or sweatshirt I had on before I left, no matter how oversize it is on her petite frame. It's her way of staying close to me when I'm away."_

_

* * *

_

In a college town, restaurants that are open late are considered to be like crack for students. Fast food is okay every once and a while, but truth be told, just like the illegal substance, give them one hit, and they keep coming back for more. Especially to a diner that is known for its cheap burgers and beer, and especially when they know Gabriella works there and would rather be home sleeping, or at least not working, following an exhausting week at school.

"Order up!"

Twenty three year old Gabriella Montez turned her head as the sound of the bell radiated throughout the diner. Her gaze didn't linger on the scruffy looking bald man standing behind the window to the kitchen, returning it swiftly to the order screen she was navigating through. It was Friday night, one of their busiest nights, and Gabriella was thankful she was not closing that night. Waking up for class at eight until two, followed by an eight hour waitressing shift, was exhausting, and Gabriella was prepared to go back to her house and crash.

"Gabriella," the bald man barked, "take this to table four, they've been waiting for a while."

Printing off the receipt for her customers, Gabriella sent him a look. She had been working at the same diner since she started at Stanford six years earlier, and for all six years, Frank had been her boss. Normally, the pair got along. Normally. However, a lot of the time they butted heads, and 90% of the times they butted heads, it was because Gabriella was leaving and he wanted her to stay. Whether she was going on vacation over spring break, traveling to visit her boyfriend in a different state, taking an internship in another city, or simply leaving for the night, he'd always throw a hissy fit when she left. She loved this job, really she did. It was flexible enough to work around the frequent study groups she had as a second year law student, and paid well enough that she wasn't completely drowning in debt during the school year. But loving the job didn't necessarily translate to loving the boss.

"Not my table."

Frank rolled his eyes, "Gabs, you have to pass by the table to deliver your check anyways."

Gabriella turned towards him, sending him a look, "Where's Tara?"

Tara Connelly was another waitress that worked at the restaurant, and number four would be her table. Frank nodded his head towards the door, "Arguing with her boy toy."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, already heading forward towards the food. Tara and her boyfriend had at least one major argument every weekend she worked. Gabriella tried to sympathize with her, but one minute they were yelling at each other, and the next one they couldn't keep their hands off one another. She really wished they'd either hate or love each other.

Gabriella sighed as she began piling the plates onto the tray, "Oh, to be young and in love."

Frank snorted, "As opposed to being old and boring, like you and your guy are?"

Gabriella nodded sadly as she balanced the tray on her shoulder, "You'd be surprised at the difference in age before and after you graduate from college."

Frank rolled his eyes, "Whatever you say."

Gabriella was already walking out of the kitchen before he finished his response, eager to deliver the food so she could get out of there. It was past ten, her shift was over, she had a pocket full of tips to count and zero interest in putting in any overtime.

"Does everything look alright?" Gabriella asked with a smile, grinning down at the small family as she passed out the plates to each respective person. Receiving nods, Gabriella smiled wider, "Great, your waitress will be back to check on you shortly." Walking back out of the dining room as swiftly as possible, Gabriella deposited her tray with the others before beginning to untie her apron from behind her.

"What do you think you're doing?"

Gabriella didn't even have to look up to recognize Frank's voice, "It's ten." She replied simply, folding up her apron and setting it on the counter as she worked on fishing out her purse and jacket from beneath, "Shift's over. I'll see you on Monday."

She slid on the navy blue jacket she had pulled out from its hiding place and slid her arms into the holes, the jacket engulfing her petite frame as it always did. "No, Gabriella…" Frank protested, "We are busy as hell out there, I need you to stay."

Gabriella zipped the jacket over her white button up uniform shirt she had coupled with jeans, and pushed the sleeves up over her hands, "Frank," Gabriella started, her voice even, "I woke up at six this morning, I just worked an eight hour shift, and you have seven other waitresses working. I am leaving." Gabriella shouldered her purse, "I will see you Monday."

Gabriella turned and began making her way towards the exit, "Why can't you work this weekend?"

Gabriella pushed open the door and sent Frank a look, "Because I just worked five days straight," she explained, "and you don't pay me enough to spend Saturday night getting my ass grabbed."

Gabriella continued on her pursuit out into the chilly February night, "Fine," Frank shouted, "but you are working next weekend, right?" Gabriella didn't bother responding, choosing instead to roll her eyes as the door shut, cutting short any further conversation between Frank and her.

She felt a chill creep up her spine and she instinctively hugged her arms tight to her body in an attempt to preserve the small amount of heat she had. Gabriella was lucky that for the majority of her life she had lived in the southern portion of the country, because with as much as she complained about the California winters where it was a cool year if they got down to the lower thirties, she'd never survive anywhere else. Her had was already shoved within the confines of her purse, searching for her keys, as she made a beeline for the midnight blue BMW X5 xDrive35d crossover, groaning internally as she saw a group of twenty-something males admiring the car. _This _was why she didn't want this stupid heap of metal. No college kid has a car like this. What was he _thinking_?

Oh, she knew what he was thinking. He could tell her a hundred thousand times that it was completely normal for a college student to be given a car as a gift upon graduation, especially when that college student was twenty two and had yet to own a car, and he was merely doing her a service. But Gabriella knew better. He did this because he was a show off. He did this because he had just signed a contract, gotten a _whole_ lot of money, and decided to spend all of it (well, not all of it, even Sharpay left alone in LA couldn't spend _all _of it). God, why couldn't he have just bought an island or town, isn't that what normal rockstars did? Why was he the one who had to be weird and buy his normal girlfriend something…not normal?

The lights flashed as Gabriella unlocked the car, one of the male's eyes moving over to her as she pulled open the driver door, preparing to get in, "Hey," the guy started, "nice car."

Gabriella tossed her apron and purse inside, "Thanks, it's my boyfriend's."

Gabriella settled easily into the driver's seat, and went to pull her door shut, only to feel a hand stopping it, "What do you say you and me take it out for a spin?" the male said suggestively, his grin giving Gabriella chills, "Boyfriend would never have to know."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Gabriella replied dryly, "My boyfriend's very particular about who he let's touch his…_car_." Her tone implied that she was not talking the car, "And he's got an anger management problem, I wouldn't want to test him."

She tugged again, but still the man didn't budge, "You don't know what you're missing, baby."

She sent him a tight smile, "Most likely a two second orgasm, _excuse me_!" Gabriella tugged as hard as she could, lurching the door free and almost closing it on his hand in the process. The man jumped back, and Gabriella seized the moment to stick the key into the ignition and stomp on the pedal, the car propelling out of its parking spot as Gabriella sped away from the diner. She didn't bother glancing in the rearview mirror at the men who yelled profanities at her retreating car, her hands gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her knuckles had gone white. This was beginning to bother her.

Men naturally gawked at nice cars, and they especially gawked at nice cars driven by seemingly single women. Prying one hand from the steering wheel, Gabriella began fishing for her phone within the confines of her purse. It'd been over a year since the car was bought for her and this was _still_ happening. Good god, why couldn't he have just bought her an expensive piece of jewelry that she could only wear when he came into town?

Finally gripping her phone, she began tapping the screen angrily until she reached her intended destination. The phone rang twice before a tired voice answered, _"Hello?"_

"I am going to kill him."

Gabriella could practically see her best friend roll her eyes, _"You've said that before."_

Gabriella nodded, "Yes, but this time I mean it."

"_No, you don't."_

"Yes, I do." Gabriella countered, slowing down as she maneuvered the car onto a side street, "I've got it all planned out. No one checks fresh graves, right? So no one would know if I just buried him in one of those."

"_I think people might notice if he goes missing."_

"Not if they knew him and how stupid he was."

"_But alas, they don't. They are as infatuated with his blue eyes and six pack abs as you are."_

"I'm not infatuated!" Gabriella defended.

"_Mm-hmm."_ her tone was heavy with sarcasm.

Gabriella scoffed, "Yeah, like you're one to talk. I've seen Chad naked, Taylor. You're just as guilty of being infatuated as I am."

This time, despite their three thousand mile separation, Gabriella was positive she could see Taylor McKessie roll her eyes, restraining her smile, _"Who _hasn't _seen Chad naked?"_ she asked rhetorically, _"And I'm not denying my infatuation."_

Gabriella groaned, making a left onto her street, "I _will_ kill him."

Taylor sighed, _"Let me guess, the car."_

"Of _course_ the car." Gabriella spit out, "It's _always_ the car. No twenty-three year old has a $60,000 car! Especially not one who works in a diner and gets paid $5.15 and hour plus tips."

"_Did they grab your ass?"_

Gabriella pulled into her driveway and pulled into her parking spot out front, "What?"

"_The guys who undoubtedly hit on you because you had a really nice car, did they grab your ass?"_

Gabriella pushed open her door, climbing out of the car, "No, otherwise you'd be catching the next flight from New Haven to Stanford to bail me out of jail because I'd have maced them."

"_Well, it's probably for the best that you didn't," _Taylor told her, _"I've got a huge test on Monday, and I need to study."_

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yeah right, Taylor. It may be Yale, but you could pass law school with your eyes closed."

"_So could you,"_ Taylor countered, _"yet I know for a fact you still study a week in advance for all tests."_

"Not true," Gabriella disputed, walking up the sidewalk towards the front door of her four bedroom home she shared with three roommates, "I never once studied over three hours for an English exam."

"_Oh, right, sorry."_ Taylor said sarcastically, _"In every subject _but_ English, you study a week in advance for all tests."_

Gabriella stuck her key into the door, sliding the deadbolt out of place, "There's nothing wrong with being prepared."

Taylor laughed, _"No there is not."_ She agreed, _"Which is why I need to…"_

Gabriella stopped abruptly right inside the doorway of her house, cell phone to her ear, her eyes widened slightly at the sound of Taylor's scream coming through the earpiece. "Taylor?"

She could hear laughter in the background, _"Gabs, those dirty rotten liars. They said they wouldn't be…"_ Gabriella's brow furrowed as the line cut out, and she pulled her phone away, finding that the call had been ended.

"What's wrong?"

Gabriella glanced up briefly to find one of her roommates, Krista, standing in the kitchen, clad in her pajama pants and a ragged t-shirt with her long blonde hair pulled up into a ponytail. Gabriella shook her head, "Nothing," she said dismissively, shoving her phone back into her purse, "my friend just probably got kidnapped, no big deal."

Krista looked confused for a moment before deciding to dismiss it with a shake of her head, "Whatever." Her expression softened into a smile, and Gabriella's eyebrows knitted together, "Nice jacket."

Gabriella glanced down, her hand going to rest on the red and white embroidered E up on the top left corner of the jacket, "Oh. Yeah…"

"No," Krista interjected, "I think it's really cute that you wear his jacket all the time. The world should know that he's yours."

Gabriella was a jacket thief. She constantly stole his jackets, and it was a good thing they both lived in California, because otherwise, she was pretty sure he'd have no jackets. This was one of her favorites, but it wasn't why she was wearing it. It was the jacket he had worn last time she had seen him, and it was the only thing that still slightly smelled like him.

Gabriella smiled tightly. When people asked about the jacket or commented on the name 'Bolton' on the back, Gabriella felt her heart ache a little, "Thanks."

Gabriella turned, beginning to make her way over towards the stairs and up to her room, when Krista's voice stopped her, "Don't forget to lock the door." Gabriella stopped, immediately backtracking and easily locking the door, "I noticed you forgot earlier today, so I just wanted to remind you."

Gabriella was already on her way towards the steps when she shook her head, "I didn't leave it unlocked."

Krista nodded, "Yeah, it was unlocked when I got home this afternoon. Sarah and Kate left last night and won't be back until tomorrow evening." She referenced their other two roommates, "And I locked it after I left, so…"

"So…you're mistaken." Gabriella finished, "I locked it, I swear. Was anything taken?"

"No." Krista responded, "And I'm not trying to accuse you of anything, we all make mistakes." Her smile was forced, "Just…be more careful next time."

Gabriella gave her an equally forced smile, "Will do." She turned and ascended the stairs, rolling her eyes. Krista was two years younger then her, and while she had the best of intentions, she was somewhat paranoid. She locked the deadbolt for the door even when she was sitting three feet from it. She freaked out about rent and bills, feeling the need to pay them weeks in advance. And she was completely anal about the cleanliness of the apartment.

Walking into her room, Gabriella didn't hesitate in shutting the door behind her. "Just be more careful next time." Gabriella mocked, dropping her purse and apron down onto the floor before she harshly unzipped the jacket, "I'm twenty three, I've lived in this house two years longer than her, I _think_ I can remember to lock the freaking door."

Gabriella quickly undid the buttons of her work shirt and launched it at the overflowing hamper in the corner of her room, glancing over the messy room she inhabited. It was the master bedroom, and for that, Gabriella was thankful. When she had first moved in, they had drawn straws as to who would get the room, and Gabriella had won. She almost forfeited it at the time, but something had stopped her, and Gabriella was really glad it had, because while she didn't have that much stuff when she moved in sophomore year, she did not. Her desk was pushed up into the corner, the glow of her lamp being the only thing illuminating the rectangular room. A pile of textbooks, the few that weren't stacked alphabetically on the floor to ceiling bookshelf to the left of the desk, were lying next to the open space where her laptop would normally sit when it wasn't in her bag. On the opposite side of the room, Gabriella's queen sized bed was shoved up against the wall, the covers lumped together from their lack of being made that morning. Across from the bed sat her television, and next to that was her walk in closet. She didn't even want to think of the mess in there.

Gabriella worked her way through the motions of getting changed into her pajamas and ready for bed, her mind drifting off before she even shimmied out of her jeans. It had only been a month, and in retrospect, that wasn't that long. They had done significantly longer separations under much worse conditions then when they had last left each other. However, for some reason, right now it was hurting much worse. Maybe it was because they were so close? Maybe it was because with each passing day, they were drawing closer and closer to the end? Her graduation, the bar exam, moving to LA…it was all so close, and because it was so close, time was dragging on and making the distance between them torture.

Gabriella held her hair back as she spit the toothpaste into the sink, rinsing out her toothbrush before replacing it into its holder. She didn't know why she did this to herself. Why she insisted on thinking about the distance every night so that by the time she called him, she was depressed that he wasn't there. Gabriella barely noticed that her hands tied her long curly hair into a messy bun on top of her head as she padded towards the bed, extinguishing the few lights she had turned on along the way. Obsessing over it didn't change anything. Crying over it didn't change anything. The truth of the matter was that unless Gabriella quit college or he gave up his career, nothing was going to change until June.

Collapsing onto her bed, she fished the discarded navy jacket from the floor, sticking her arms through the holes. Gabriella decided it would be best to forego her phone call that night. She was tired, not really in a good mood, and he tended to be grumpy at night as well, just one of the many things they had in common. Zipping up the jacket, she slid her legs under the covers and settled onto her side, snuggling into the jacket and inhaling the scent she missed so much.

Her eyelids were heavy, but despite that she knew she should've let her tiredness overtake her, she pushed it aside to focus on the same picture she focused on each night before she went to sleep. She had a plethora of them littering her bedroom, some of them of her parents before and after she was born, some of her and her mother on their many adventures as they traveled throughout the US, some of them of high school and college with her friends, and some of them with her boyfriend. But this was her favorite. It was old, in terms of some of the other pictures, about five or six years, however she'd never get tired of it, no matter how many other good pictures were taken of them, this had to be her favorite. The pair were snuggled together, their red high school graduation robes twined together in such a way that it was impossible to distinguish where one stopped and the other started. Gabriella was smiling brightly at the camera, her tan skin radiating from both the hot Albuquerque sun and the fact that she was currently in the arms of her shaggy haired, blue eyed boyfriend, otherwise known as Troy Bolton.

She didn't care that they had better pictures taken of them in the years since. She didn't care that Troy complained that the shorter hairstyle he had been sporting in recent years was dramatically better then his previous one. Nor did she care that it was hot, they were sweaty, and their hats were slightly askew from mingling with friends. This picture marked a turning point in their lives. This was the point where they went from being high school sweethearts infatuated with one another to something more. Something that could survive college. Something that could survive the distance. Something that could survive only being an hour from one another but only able to see each other once a month if they were lucky. Something that could survive a knee injury. And something that could survive a slight shift in Troy's career path.

"I never liked my hair in that picture."

Gabriella, as well as everyone within a ten mile radius, was jarred from her thoughts by the piercing scream that rang from her lips as she propelled herself out of her bed and away from the voice that had just sounded behind her. She landed on the carpet with a thump, her eyes wide in panic as she stared up at the other occupant of her room, while mentally calculating how long it would take for her to reach the door. A quiet chuckle rang out through the room as Gabriella's brain processed the man currently lying in her bed, dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt, his head propped up by his hand, as he grinned his lopsided grin down at her. "Jumpy much?"

And as quickly as she plopped down onto the floor, she was off of it, lunging back up onto the bed and straight into the male, who accepted her with open arms, "Oh my god!" Gabriella mumbled as her arms latched around his neck, holding on as though she never wanted to let go, "Troy, what are you _doing _here?"

Troy laughed quietly at her enthusiasm, hugging her just as tightly as she hugged him, "What do you think I'm doing here?"

Gabriella loosened her hold a bit to allow herself to stare up at his face, the face she hadn't seen in over a month and had missed every day since, "But…I thought…" Gabriella was attempting to commit every single line of his face to memory while trying to talk at the same time, and finding that it wasn't as easy as it seemed, "I thought…you said it'd be March or April before you got some real time off?"

"I did," Troy confirmed with a soft smile, "which is why I'm not here. Right now, I'm en route to Las Vegas for our show on Wednesday, planning on doing some recording during the few days they schedule for us to have off."

Gabriella smiled brightly, a small laugh escaping her lips, "I probably shouldn't encourage the lying, but I'm so happy to see you." She squeezed herself up against him again, pressing until there was no space between them, "I missed you so much."

Gabriella felt him press a kiss onto the top of her head, "Me too."

Gabriella's bedroom door creaked open and the pair both diverted their attention to find Krista peeking her head into the room, "Gabriella, are you…" The blonde froze upon catching sight of the couple perched on Gabriella's bed, "Oh! Oh…I'm so…"

"It's alright." Gabriella said dismissively, not relinquishing her hold onto Troy, but focusing her attention onto her roommate, "Sorry I screamed…he just surprised me."

Troy sent her a small smile, waving slightly, "Hi, I'm Troy."

Gabriella perked up, "Oh, right, I forgot, you two haven't met." She detached her arms from around Troy and scooted back, gesturing towards Krista, "Troy, this is my roommate, Krista. Krista, this is my boyfriend, Troy."

Troy moved forward, making his way off of the bed with his hand outstretched, "Nice to finally meet you," Krista glanced down at his hand anxiously before hesitantly sliding her own into his, "Gabriella's told me so much about you."

Krista nodded her head, not removing her eyes from Troy's face, "Yeah…" she jolted a bit, as though she had just been shocked, "Yeah!" she repeated louder, removing her hand swiftly from Troy's, laughing nervously, "S-she's told me all about you too." Her eyes bulged slightly, "But not too much." She added quickly, releasing a nervous laugh, "Nothing revealing that you'd have to worry about me telling anyone." Troy lifted his eyebrows, "Not that I'd tell anyone if I did know something!"

Troy nodded his head, taking a step back towards Gabriella, "O…kay…"

Krista smiled, letting out a small breath, "Sorry, I'm not normally this…I just didn't know…Gabriella never told me you were coming into town."

"That's because I didn't know," Gabriella responded with a small smile, lifting her foot to purposely kick Troy in the butt, "because _someone_ didn't tell me!"

Troy snatched at her leg, missing it as she retracted back onto the bed, "Hey," he started with a smile, "we've been dating for seven years, I need to keep this relationship exciting somehow." Gabriella rolled her eyes while Troy turned his attention back to Krista, "I hope you don't mind," he started, "it's just…I had a few days off, and we don't get to see each other all that often."

Gabriella almost felt bad for Krista. She'd been on the receiving end of that voice, that smile, and those eyes before. However, at the same time, it was amusing to watch her rather uptight roommate squirm a bit under the gaze of a person she admired. Even if Krista would never admit it to Gabriella, she knew. She knew about the poster she hid on the inside of her closet door and she knew of the music that took up a good majority of the blonde's iPod. Krista was obsessed with Troy's band.

Yes, that's right, _band_. Troy Bolton was in a band. How, might you ask, did Troy Bolton find himself twenty four and in a rock band? How did the former captain of the East High Wildcats basketball team, self proclaimed 'basketball guy', end up fronting a highly successful, widely popular rock band? Fate intervened.

Not right away, mind you. Following graduation, Troy went to Berkeley as expected. He did the basketball thing and he did the theater thing, immersing himself deeply in hopes that the one he was destined to _do_ would become more apparent to him. After all, as much as a dancing and singing basketball player would work in high school, the fact was that Troy simply wouldn't have enough time in the real world. He liked different parts of each world. With the basketball he liked the popularity and notoriety for being himself, with acting, he was always playing someone else, so it was nice to just be himself. But he liked the music. Singing together had awoken something inside of him that he hadn't been able to shut up since. However, parts of each area weren't enough, and the deeper and deeper he got into each field, the unhappier he got. Even from Stanford, it was easy for Gabriella to see that Troy was lost, and it killed her that there didn't seem to be anything she could do about it.

Then fate intervened.

And fate hurt like a bitch.

Gabriella moved her eyes down to his jean covered knee instinctively. It had been five years and Gabriella could still feel her heart clench inside of her chest when she thought of that night. The excitement she felt pumping through her veins that night as she sat courtside at the Stanford-Berkeley basketball game. Decked out in Berkeley colors, of course, she had been cheering hard for Troy. Not that he had needed it, Berkeley were easily kicking Stanford's butt, and at that point they still had a quarter of the game left to play. And then it happened. Troy jumped, shooting for the basket, and another guy jumped to block him. Gabriella wasn't sure if the guy caught Troy off guard, or if he simply hit him harder than Troy had anticipated, but either way, they had collided.

The messy details weren't necessary. It wasn't necessary to know that she had rushed to his side as he had writhed on the ground in pain. It wasn't necessary to know how the pair had been rushed to the hospital because Troy couldn't walk. Nor was it necessary to know that Troy was taken into emergency surgery because the swelling in his knee wouldn't stop due to fluid buildup. None of that was important. The only thing that was important was that Troy had injured his knee to the point where surgery was his only option. And if surgery was his only option, basketball was not.

"No," Krista said, shaking Gabriella from her thoughts, "no, of course it's alright."

"Good," Troy responded instantly, "I was hoping you'd say that despite my mistake earlier."

Krista's eyebrows shot up, "Mistake?"

Troy smiled guiltily, "Gabriella gave me a copy of the key to your guys' house, and when I came in this afternoon, I used it, but I forgot to lock the door after me."

"Oh did you?" Krista asked rhetorically, "I didn't even notice."

Gabriella rolled her eyes but kept her mouth shut. "Good," he agreed again, "I'll do better while I'm here, I promise."

Krista had a hopeful gleam in her eyes, "O-oh, you'll be staying here?" she questioned, "How long?"

Gabriella once again lifted her leg, connecting her foot with Troy's backside and pushing as hard as she could, "Yeah, how long will you be imposing on us?"

This time, Gabriella didn't retract her foot fast enough and Troy gripped her calf, Gabriella letting out a squeal as he yanked her off of the mattress. Her head narrowly missed the ground, something that emitted an additional scream from Gabriella's lips as she felt the carpet brush the top of her head just before Troy secured his arms around her legs, holding her squirming figure in an inverted position. "Just until Wednesday," Troy answered nonchalantly, "I have to be in Vegas by Wednesday night, so I imagine I'll leave sometime that afternoon."

Gabriella was attempting to grab a hold of any part of Troy she could, settling on his belt, in an attempt to pull herself up, "You lunkhead basketball…"

Troy yanked at his jeans that Gabriella was inadvertently pulling down, "Gabriella," Troy scolded lightly, "not in front of the roommate."

"PUT ME DOWN!"

Troy diligently ignored Gabriella's exclamation, "I'll do my best to stay out of your way, I promise."

Krista released a nervous laugh, "You could _never_…" she paused as Gabriella released another scream when Troy tossed her into the air a bit, adjusting his grip on her.

"TROY BOLTON!"

"You know what?" Krista asked rhetorically, "I'm just gonna go."

She turned and scurried over towards Gabriella's bedroom door, obviously leaving no further room for argument, "Well it was nice to meet you!" Troy called after her.

Krista sent him a small smile as she exited through the door, "You too!" she left no further room for conversation as she shut the door with a firm snap.

Troy listened to the sound of her footsteps as she thundered down the steps, "Do you think we scared her off?"

Gabriella had stopped struggling, but the glare that was present on her features was a dead giveaway to her current emotions, "I know someone else I'll be scaring off if you don't. Put. Me. Down. _Now_!"

Troy chuckled, beginning to move towards her bed, "But if I put you down, you'll hit me."

"I'm gonna hit you either way." Gabriella told him, "Would you rather it be in the head or in the testicles?"

"So testy…" Gabriella let out a small yelp as Troy heaved her up, sighing only when she felt her back hit the softness of her mattress, "Need I remind you that _you_ kicked me."

Gabriella glowered at Troy as he plopped onto the mattress next to her, lying on his stomach, "Next time I'll aim lower…go for the bad knee."

Troy rolled his eyes, "No you won't."

"You're right, I won't, I'm not that mean. Hold still." Gabriella tacked on suddenly, causing Troy to frown in confusion just a moment before a large fluffy pillow whacked him in the face. "That is for not telling me you were coming into town."

Troy was attempting to restrain his smile, "But…" his response was cut off as he was once again hit in the face with the pillow.

"That is for turning me upside down." Gabriella continued.

"Gabi…"

This time he attempted to dodge the whack, but Gabriella was too quick for him, nailing him in the face, "And _that_ was for making me think I was about to get raped and murdered by some psychopath who snuck into my bed."

Troy blinked at her, "Are you finished?" Gabriella smiled nodding her head, "Excellent, now if you'll _listen_…"

Troy was cut off again as Gabriella hit him one more time, "That's just to keep you in line." She had a wide satisfied smile on her face, but it quickly dropped when Troy snatched the pillow from her hands and tossed it across the room, "Hey!"

"Now if you'll listen…" Troy started again.

"You threw my pillow across the room!"

"I didn't tell you because I didn't know." Troy continued, ignoring Gabriella's comment, "A lot of time these days off get scheduled in, but usually they're filled with appearances and stuff. However, this time, it was preplanned recording time, and Chad, Zeke, and I decided to just play hooky and go visit our girlfriends instead."

Gabriella stuck her lip out, Troy finding her pouting absolutely adorable, "Now what am I supposed to sleep with?" she asked, obviously still referencing her pillow.

Troy rolled his eyes, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, "I suppose you'll just have to use me as a pillow."

Gabriella turned her head away from him, "No, thank you."

Troy was obviously not giving up that easily, leaning into the crook of her neck and pressing a kiss to her soft skin, "Are you sure?" he asked in a low voice, "It'll be fun."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, keeping her face indifferent, "So is solving systems of equations."

Troy moved his lips further up, pressing them to the sensitive skin behind her ear, "I think this would be more fun."

"That's a matter of opinion." Gabriella told him, her eyebrows momentarily knitting together as she felt his knee slide across her own to plant itself on the opposite side of her. There was something hard beneath the jean of his pant leg, "One man's trash is another man's…are you wearing your knee brace?"

Troy, who had positioned himself halfway on top of Gabriella and halfway off, didn't remove his head from its current location, continuing to pepper light kisses along the exposed skin of her neck, "Yeah," he started, "strained it the other night, I'm fine," he added quickly, "trainer just thought it'd be best if I wore it for a few days."

Gabriella wanted to inquire further. Ask whether he'd obtained any sort of x-rays or MRI scans, why he hadn't told her, how long ago was 'the other night', and if he still felt any sort of pain. But he didn't want to talk about it, and Gabriella knew he didn't want to talk about it. "Probably for the best." She mumbled, her brain swirling with thoughts.

"Mm-hmm…" Troy agreed, pulling back to study her face, "What are you thinking about?" he whispered to her, his face mere inches from her own.

Gabriella, who had been avoiding his gaze primarily because she knew how easy it was for him to read her, glanced up, connecting their eyes, "Your knee." She didn't need to elaborate; both knew what she was talking about.

Troy glanced down at her lips momentarily, causing him to instinctively wet his own, "What about my knee?"

Gabriella shrugged, trying to keep her face emotionless, but failing miserably, "I was just thinking…"

Troy lifted his eyebrows as she paused, "You were just thinking…" he echoed.

Gabriella searched his features for a moment, taking in the dark circles under his eyes, a product of sleepless nights combined with being pulled a million different directions. "Do you ever wonder," she started, finally breaking eye contact, "what life would be like if you hadn't gotten hurt?"

Gabriella had paused, unsure how to word her question in a way that wouldn't set him off, knowing how much he disliked the topic of conversation. He didn't pause, "All the time." And then he kissed her, leaving no further room for discussion.

He didn't like talking about it. And he didn't like talking about why he didn't like talking about it either. He always stated it was because it was in the past, and that they should focus on their future, however, Gabriella knew better. It was a dark time in Troy's life following his knee injury. He was depressed, he was angry, and he was bitter. He withdrew from his parents and her, locking himself inside of his bedroom for days at a time, only surfacing when he absolutely had to. Troy was lost, and Gabriella was clueless as to how to help him.

Then, once again, fate intervened. Fate in the form of Chad Danforth. It was easy to ignore Chad's phone calls, but it was not easy to ignore Chad in person. Gabriella would forever remember the way he had stormed into Troy's bedroom, the way he and Troy had started arguing far worse than they had ever argued before, but especially the way he had finally (literally) dragged Troy out of his room and out of his depression. He forced him to cheer up, forced him to give all he had in physical therapy, forced him to sit down and talk with his parents and Gabriella, and, most importantly, he forced him to pick up a guitar for the first time. Chad had always been into guitars, but Troy had never really taken much of an interest in them before. However, this time, Troy didn't really have anything better to do, and decided to give it a shot. He didn't expect himself to like it, that much was obvious just by watching him, but he definitely didn't expect to be good at it. He was, though. _Really_ good.

It started with a party. One random party during their first week back in Albuquerque for summer, thrown by someone Chad had met. They needed a band, and through some twisting of arms, Chad convinced Troy and Zeke Baylor, home from his first year at culinary school, to play at the event. Both thought Chad was out of his mind, they weren't even a real band! All of them went in prepared to be laughed at, booed, and kicked out. They were prepared to fail. Except…they didn't. No one laughed after they finished their first song, no one booed when they started their second, and they were definitely not kicked out when the guy asked if they would play again the next week. Everything changed overnight after that. Their name started getting passed around town. From frat parties to night clubs, they played any and everything thrown at them, and while getting paid for something that came very naturally for the three was awesome, it was bigger than the money, and all of them knew it was bigger than the money.

It shouldn't have happened like it did. Logically, all of them knew it shouldn't have happened the way it did. They shouldn't have taken a gig in Phoenix on the same day that Josh Hennessey, president and founder of Hennessey Records, just so happen to be visiting his sister in the same city. He shouldn't have heard them play. They shouldn't have been that good. And the record deal that they got signed to two weeks later shouldn't have happened. But it did.

And five years, three albums with corresponding tours, and millions of fans later, they were still pinching themselves.

Or at least Gabriella was still pinching them.

Gabriella smiled once Troy pulled back, cracking her eyes open to meet his sparkling blue ones, "I missed you." She murmured, his lips millimeters from her own.

He gave her a small smile, "I kinda figured," his eyes glanced down, and Gabriella followed his line of sight to the jacket of his she was wearing, "kind of a dead giveaway when you wear what you last saw me in." Gabriella felt a blush creep up onto her cheeks, and she quickly diverted her eyes, "That's okay," Troy told her, ducking his head down into the crook of her neck and placing a lingering kiss there, "I'm wearing what you last wore too."

Gabriella scoffed, pulling back and shoving Troy in the chest, "Don't make fun of me!" she whined, a pout forming on her lips as Troy grinned widely, his shoulders shaking in silent laughter, "If you didn't miss me, then you can just leave."

Troy was unsuccessfully attempting to squash his smile, "I don't really think you want me to leave." Gabriella opened her mouth to contradict him, however Troy cut her off, "And even if you did, I wouldn't, because I have missed you."

Gabriella felt the corners of her mouth pulling upwards, any defenses she had against his charm immediately falling by the wayside at the sincerity in his voice, "You did?"

Troy nodded, "Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Zeke rushed back to LA for Sharpay, and likewise to New Haven and Taylor for Chad, but I was already halfway here by the time they got going."

Gabriella frowned, "You should've come and seen me at work, I hate that hours of our time was wasted while I was at stupid work."

Troy shrugged, "Its okay, I needed to sleep to prepare."

Gabriella sent him a curious look, "Prepare for what?"

A smirk stretched onto his features and instantly, Gabriella knew. She'd know that smirk anywhere, "Not sleeping."

Gabriella couldn't help the giggle that escaped her lips as Troy smashed his onto hers, although she didn't resist him, returning his kisses just as fervently. He was quick to move on top of her, keeping her locked in a deep kiss as his hands moved to the zipper of his jacket she was wearing. Troy was thrown for a loop when Gabriella placed her hand on his chest and pushed back, his lips unwillingly disconnecting from hers, "Wait..." she managed out.

Troy started at her dazedly, his confusion evident, "What?"

Gabriella blinked up at him owlishly, "You were kidding about wearing what I was last wearing, right?"

She loved it when he laughed. Not his 'I'm laughing because I think you're an idiot' laugh, or his 'I'll laugh because you think its funny, but it really isn't' laugh, but _real_ laugh. The laugh he didn't use as often as she wanted him too, and that laugh that was currently spilling from his lips and filling her bedroom. "I don't know," he laughed out, "I guess you'll have to find out." Troy went to lean in again, most likely planning to continue what she had interrupted, and Gabriella let her eyes flutter closed in preparation for the incoming kiss, only to feel him swiftly retract.

"And just so you know," Troy started, "those thongs are a lot more difficult to put on than they appear."

* * *

*bites nails* Like it? Hate it? Absolutely terrible idea in which I should be banned from the fanfiction community for even having?


	2. iTunes

**A/N:** This one's for Abby, my wonderful beta reader. Without her, I'd have more thens than I'd know what to do with...then I'd know what to do with...*bites lip*

BTW...Gabriella's not weird, I do this too. :D

* * *

"_I get a kick out of how my girlfriend meticulously indexes all of her songs in iTunes, including artists, full song titles, album cover art, song lyrics, songwriters, genre, year released and on and on."_

* * *

"My friends are gonna get angry if we never come out."

Troy grinned at Gabriella, tightening his grip on her waist, and brushing his nose with her own, "They get you for, like, eleven months out of the year," Troy told her, lifting up his hand to brush some hair out of her eyes, "I can have you, uninterrupted, for a few days."

Gabriella giggled, the noise filling Troy and sending shockwaves throughout his entire system. The pair were snuggled up on her bed, their limbs intertwined to the point where it was indiscernible where Gabriella's ended and Troy's began, just the way they liked it. Troy's arm was slung around her waist, caressing the skin of her lower back, just beneath the thin material of her camisole, while her hands were resting on his chest, above the cotton fabric of his t-shirt. He didn't know how long they had been there, most likely a couple of hours, but he was content to stay put for…ever, really.

They had spent almost the entire day within the confines of her bedroom, save for a quick pizza and grocery run earlier, doing nothing more than spending time together. Occasionally they watched some TV, occasionally they kissed, occasionally they did more than kissing, but mainly they just talked. Despite all their long conversations, both over the phone and via webcam, it just wasn't the same as when they were lying next to each other. Troy told her about his career, what they were planning on doing next with the band, how well recording was going, and that despite the difficulty associated with traveling, he loved the tour thus far. Gabriella talked about school, how the teachers were starting to be difficult merely for the sake of being difficult, the sudden influx of homework that left her with small amounts of free time, and how ready she was for graduation. It was wonderful and awful both at the same time. It was wonderful because she was getting to spend time with the man she loved. It was awful because he'd be leaving again on Wednesday.

"It's not me they want." Gabriella told him with a smile, "It's my hunky rockstar boyfriend." Troy rolled his eyes, "Don't roll your eyes, they've been _dying_ to meet you since I finally revealed you as the 'Troy' I talked about all the time."

Troy grimaced, "Look, I'm only here for a few days, can't you just bring them to my concert or something?"

"You're concert is on a Wednesday in Vegas, none of us can come and you know we can't." Gabriella stuck out her bottom lip, Troy immediately groaning once her pout formed, "You'd like them, you really would."

"I have no doubt," Troy told her instantly, "I just, and I don't mean this in a bad way, but I came here to spend time with _you_." He explained, "Not you _and_ your three roommates."

"We can have dinner tonight." Gabriella suggested.

"But I was gonna take you out for dinner tonight." Troy protested.

Gabriella sent him a look, "No you weren't."

"Yes, I was."

"No, you weren't." Gabriella repeated, "You were gonna wait until I went to the bathroom to whip out…"

Troy snorted, "Whoa there!"

"…your _cell phone_," she finished with a pointed look, "to order more pizza, and then we'd talk, eat, and have more sex."

A sly smirk spread across Troy's features, "_Well_, if you insist."

Their faces weren't more than a few inches apart, and Troy had every intent of closing that distance between them, but Gabriella placed her finger on his puckered lips, pushing his face back, "Dinner," Gabriella repeated, her tone indicating that there wasn't any room for argument, "tonight."

Troy sighed, "Fine."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, "I'll cook if it makes you feel any better."

Troy shook his head, "No, I'm cooking."

"No, Troy," Gabriella started, "you're _my_ guest, I'm not having you cook."

"But Zeke gave me a new recipe I've been dying to try." Troy told her, "Plus, I'm putting you out."

"You're not putting me out," Gabriella sent him a small smile, wrapping her arms around his neck, "you're my favorite pillow."

Troy's smile mirrored her own as he pecked her lightly on the lips, "So glad that I can be of service." Gabriella went to lean in again, but this time it was Troy who deflected the kiss, "However, I am still making dinner."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Depends, what new recipe?"

"That, my dear, is for me to know and you to find out." Gabriella frowned, "Hey! Speaking of new things…" Gabriella slackened her grip on Troy as he untangled his limbs from hers, pushing up into a sitting position as he dug through his duffle bag sitting on the floor. "We just finished a few new songs."

"Ooo," Gabriella said excitedly, sitting up, "gimme gimme!"

Troy laughed at her eagerness, finally fishing out his flash drive and depositing it into her hand, "You've gotta be kind, though." He told her as she made her way over to where she had left her backpack with her laptop inside, "They were, like, _just_ recorded. I haven't edited anything."

Troy plopped down in front of her desk, watching Gabriella set the sleek silver computer in front of him, "I am always kind," she told him as she sat down on his lap, waiting for the laptop to boot up, "you always say I'm _too _kind."

"You are," Troy agreed, "but I'm talking about being kind in reference to sound quality. I still want you to be brutally honest about lyrics."

Gabriella laughed as she logged into her computer, sticking the flash drive into the side, "You can't ask me to be brutally honest about songs when the lyrics are about me."

Troy smiled, "Fine, then I'll stop writing about you."

His tone sounded upset, but Gabriella knew he was just teasing her, "Fine," Gabriella replied childishly, "I never wanted you to write about me in the first place."

"Good."

"Great!"

Troy laughed, burying his face into her back and pressing a kiss to her skin, "I missed you."

"I missed you more."

Troy shook his head, "Not possible."

"It is possible." Gabriella disputed, "Under 'New Album'?"

Troy nodded, "Yep. And, no, I definitely missed you more, you had school to distract you for three months, I had Chad and Zeke."

Gabriella clicked her mouse, "And _millions _of screaming women throwing themselves at you."

"That's implied with Chad and Zeke."

Gabriella's brow furrowed, a small laugh escaping her lips, "How is that implied in Chad and Zeke?"

Troy was peeking over her shoulder, "Are you there yet?"

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yes, I've just gotta open them in iTunes," she informed him, "what's the name of 'Track 1'?"

Troy shrugged, "Track 1."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, Troy, you know I have to have a name." she told him, "I'll forgo the album name for now, but the tracks can't not have names."

"But, we haven't named them yet."

"Well, name them now."

Troy shook his head, "I can't name them without Chad and Zeke."

"Sure you can."

"No," Troy started, "baby, I can't."

"Sure you can," Gabriella repeated, "just don't tell them you named them until they ask for suggestions and then just strongly suggest these names."

Troy paused for a moment, shaking his head slightly, "Gabi…"

"Do you want me to listen to your songs or not?" Gabriella asked firmly.

"Well, of course. But…"

"Then, 'Track 1'…" Gabriella said, her fingers poised on the keyboard, ready to type.

Troy rolled his eyes, "Track one is called 'Feelin' Way Too Damn Good'."

Gabriella smiled victoriously, "Ooo, intriguing, 'Track 2'…"


	3. Dance

* * *

"_She does an I-have-been-fed dance after I cook a good meal."_

_

* * *

_

"Mmm…this food is fantastic!"

"Normally I don't like Italian, but this lasagna is _fabulous_!"

Troy smiled at the compliments of two of Gabriella's roommates, Sarah and Kate, watching them devour their plates of the lasagna he had made, "Thank you."

"No, seriously," Krista commented, swallowing a large chunk of the cheesy goodness, "what is _in_ this."

"Unfortunately, I cannot tell you." Troy informed the three girls, "It's my friend's recipe and if I told anyone, I think he just might kill me."

"Oh he would." Gabriella confirmed with a nod, "And I'd rat you out in a heartbeat."

Troy sent her a look, a wry smile tugging at his lips, "Nice to know our seven years together mean so much to you."

Gabriella reached under the table, patting her boyfriend's thigh, "Oh, they do," She started, "but I know where my cookies come from."

Troy shook his head, "You know…I think he puts crack in those cookies, they are way too good to just be the normal recipe."

"They're _not_ the normal recipe." Gabriella disputed, "It's his own personal recipe."

Troy nodded, "Yeah, his own personal recipe with crack."

Gabriella shrugged, "You know what? As long as its chocolate covered crack, I could care less."

Troy rolled his eyes at her comment, and Gabriella grinned at her boyfriend, stealing a glance at her three roommates. Originally, when they had moved in together, the three girls had made plans to have regular dinners together. The plan had fallen by the wayside relatively quickly once individual lives started to play into the mix. If it wasn't work it was homework, and if it wasn't homework it having a social life, and the simple fact of the matter was that the reality of four girls living in the same house together wasn't slumber parties and girl talk every night. Most nights, the girls had minimal contact with one another, and that night had been shaping up to be no different with Sarah and Kate already in the process of making dinner, and Krista with one foot out the door to go meet up with friends. However, most nights didn't include Troy Bolton, and once he became part of the plan, it was amazing how quickly everything else got discarded.

"You two are so cute!" Kate practically squealed, grinning from ear to ear. Kate and Sarah were a year younger than Gabriella, both of them planning on heading to law school, and they looked up to Gabriella as a role model. Gabriella wasn't going to lie, she had been a little creeped out when they moved in and wouldn't stop hanging around her. But eventually the newness of living on their own and having more than one roommate wore off, and Gabriella was glad that the trio had become great friends.

"We never get to see Gabs like this." Sarah admitted, a small smile resting on her features. Kate was loud and outgoing while Sarah was the shier of the two. Not that that was saying much. Just because she wasn't as outgoing as Kate didn't mean she balked at the idea of embarrassing Gabriella, "All smitten and in love."

Gabriella sent her a look, "Sarah…"

"I know," Troy started, lazily slinging his arm around her shoulders, bringing his other hand up in an effort to pinch her cheek, "isn't she just the cutest?"

Gabriella jolted out of his embrace, scooting away from him as she blocked his hand with her own, "Don't!" Troy didn't pursue it further, however, the wide grin that appeared on his face made Gabriella feel like she had just lost something.

"So, you live in LA, right?"

Troy turned his eyes away from his girlfriend and focused them onto roommate, "Hmm?" he asked, obviously having not heard the question.

"LA?" Krista repeated, "You live there, right?"

Troy nodded, "Yeah, but live is a loose term. I spend more time in hotel rooms then in my house."

Krista tilted her head, her eyes shifting onto Gabriella, "Does that mean you'll be moving to LA? Because I thought the job you got offered was in New York?"

The small smile that had been resting on Troy's lips quickly disintegrated, and despite that he wasn't looking at her, Gabriella could still tell that his eyes had darkened at Krista's comment. Four things to know about Troy and Gabriella's relationship, they had a certain fondness for karaoke, anyone who interrupted them got something thrown at their head, Troy's knee was never to be referenced, and you didn't talk about the job offer.

"I've gotten offered a multitude of jobs," Gabriella told Krista, her tone indicating that she wasn't only saying the words escaping her mouth, "I haven't decided which one's best for me."

"But this is the job of a _lifetime_!" Krista continued, "One year under Denny Dupree and you're…"

Krista was abruptly cut off as Troy turned sharply back towards Gabriella, "I'll get the dishes." His hand was already halfway towards her plate, and Gabriella acted instantaneously, lifting up her hand and swiftly smacking his, causing him to retract, "Hey!"

Before he could say more, Gabriella already had her finger in his face, "You are the guest! I already let you violate the agreement by cooking; you're _not _doing the dishes too."

Troy rolled his eyes, watching Gabriella stand up and begin gathering the dirty utensils and plates, "I told you, _I'm_ the one imposing…at least let me help."

Gabriella removed his own plate from his hands and turned on her heel, "No!"

Troy sighed, collapsing back against his chair, slouching in defeat, "Fine!"

He heard her giggle carry over from the kitchen, but it was overpowered by the other three laughs erupting around the table. He didn't really want to be here. Not that he didn't like the girls, as he told Gabriella, he was certain they were all great people. But they weren't his girlfriend. And with a limited amount of time together, and Krista's words buzzing around his head, he wanted to be around Gabriella. However, the logical side of his brain knew that there was a high possibility that if he ignored her roommates, they'd never leave the pair alone. Troy, forcing himself to refocus on Krista, Sarah, and Kate, smiled at the three girls, "So…are you guys all in law school?"

Kate raised her hand meekly, the brunette smiling, "I am...we are." She motioned to Sarah, "Or at least we will be."

Krista had immediately started shaking her head, "No _way_, you could not pay me enough to be a lawyer. I'm doing History and Political Science."

Troy nodded, "Oh, I took a polysci class in college; it was a lot of fun. What do you want to do with it?"

"Politician." Krista answered immediately, "Hands down, want to run for office."

"Hmm…" Troy started, a sarcastic smile toying with his lips, "I'll make sure to keep my money away from you."

Troy jumped slightly when Krista released a very loud laugh, leaning over and placing her hand on his forearm, "You are _so_ funny." Troy glanced down at her hand, his brow furrowed in confusion as though he was certain he was misreading the signs, "So you and Gabriella have been together how long?"

"Almost seven years." Troy answered without hesitation.

Krista pursed her lips, a sly smile resting on them, "It's so sweet seeing a couple last that long, especially with you traveling all the time."

Troy nodded, quietly slipping his arm away from her, "It's not easy, but," he shrugged, "you do what you have to to make it work."

"And you guys do." Kate informed him, "Gabriella would probably throttle me for telling you this, but that girl is totally smitten with you."

Troy smiled softly, glancing towards the kitchen, "Perhaps, but it's me that's wrapped around her finger. I honestly have no idea how she puts up with me."

Kate and Sarah giggled, exchanging a look while Troy stole a glance towards the kitchen; he could hear Gabriella humming, "So you're leaving Wednesday?" Sarah asked politely.

Troy nodded, "Yep, sometime after Gabriella gets out of class."

Kate raised her eyebrows, "Will you be gracing us with your presence again anytime soon?"

Troy nodded his head, "Well, Gabi graduates in May, so I'll be back then, but hopefully, I'll be able to visit sooner." He shrugged slightly, running through his tentative schedule inside of his head, "She's visiting me over spring break, but I'm hoping I'll be able to make a visit down here sometime around her birthday."

"But…your birthday," Krista started, "it's in October, or so I read," she added quickly with a laugh, "she didn't come and see you…did she?"

Troy had the strong urge to scoot his chair as far away from Krista as possible, but he resisted, "She did, actually." Troy told her, "She flew up and surprised me."

"Aww..." Sarah gushed, "how sweet."

"How annoying is more like it." Troy corrected, "She doesn't do it to be cute or sweet, she does it because she knows I have to top her." He leaned forward, lowering his voice as though Gabriella could hear him, "Let me tell you, there is _nothing_ harder than beating your girlfriend when she's allowed to do anything and you have rules."

Kate and Sarah exchanged looks, "Rules?"

"Anything I get her must be able to fit into a suitcase, it cannot be anything that cannot be carried onto a plane," he began, counting the rules off onto his hand, "it can't cost more than five hundred dollars…"

"One hundred dollars!" Gabriella yelled from the kitchen, "Fifty dollars for things that don't actually count!"

Troy turned his head, "How come you get to decide what does and doesn't count?" he yelled into the kitchen, "Who says 300 weeks isn't an actual anniversary date?" he turned his head back to the girls, "You see what I'm up against?" he whispered loudly.

The three girls laughed quietly, "Well," Sarah started, "if you want any help, we could get her out of the house or something."

Troy pursed his lips, nodding his head, "I'll keep that in mind." He paused for a moment before shifting his chair backwards to allow him to stand, "I'm gonna help Gabi with the dishes." He stated, scooping up the half-eaten pan of lasagna, "But it was really nice meeting all of you."

All three nodded, "It really was," Krista started, "it was…you are…great…"

Troy sent the blond an odd look before turning and heading towards the kitchen, missing the roll that Kate threw at a dazed Krista once his back was turned. "What?" Krista hissed in response.

Troy didn't bother sticking around any longer, rolling his eyes as he made his way into the kitchen. Troy had had his share of crazy fans, probably more than his fair share, and the other Troy was good at handling them. That was the thing about Troy, he had two sides. One that the public saw and one that he kept private. The public Troy performed concerts and gave dazzling interviews, he appeared on the front pages of magazines and tabloids, and he was exactly what everyone expected him to be. The private Troy wasn't. The private Troy was a complete mama's boy who flew to Albuquerque or Stanford every chance he could, hated touring, and had been in a relationship with the same woman for seven years. The two sides intertwined to a certain extent, but he liked to keep them as separate as possible. Something that wasn't easy to do when the roommates of one of the main fixtures in private Troy's life saw him as public Troy.

Troy rested his hand on the wooden door that led to the kitchen, pausing when he heard that Gabriella had resumed humming. An involuntary smile worked its way onto his features, and without hesitation, he pushed open the door. There were very few times in his life that Troy could say he actually saw Gabriella dance. Save for a few times he had literally dragged her out to the clubs with him and the couple of high school dances they attended together. A large part of it did have to do with the distance and simple lack of time together, but a larger portion of it had to do with Gabriella's shyness and insecurity. She wasn't one of the kinds of girls who would put on something slinky and grind with Troy at some LA hotspot. That just wasn't her. She couldn't do that in such a public place, even if that public place was dark, and she definitely couldn't do it in a place where paparazzi photos of them could end up on the internet the next day.

Allowing the door to swing shut behind him, Troy leaned against the counter as he observed his girlfriend. Gabriella loved LA, and even though she hadn't yet lived there for any extended amount of time, Troy knew she would love it when she ultimately moved out there. However, Stanford was her. He knew that sounded weird, a college couldn't be a person, but he was talking about more than just the college. The town was a Gabriella-sized town. The stores were Gabriella-themed stores. The college had a library that had Gabriella speechless the first time she walked into it. Everything about this place screamed Gabriella, and because it was so easy for her to fit in here, it was easy to get her to break out of her shell and let loose. And yes, letting loose for some people didn't mean dancing in the middle of their kitchen, but for Gabriella, it did.

He wasn't sure what song she had on repeat in her head, her humming, while loud enough for him to hear, wasn't clear enough for Troy to dissect what it actually was. It was most likely a faster song, that much he could tell by the way she was moving her hips. Her hands were submerged in the soapy water as she cleaned the dish in her hands, swaying back and forth to her own beat, seemingly oblivious to him. He loved seeing the side of her that she never really showed to anyone else. As creepy as it sounded, if he could get away with it, he'd make a living just simply watching her. All her little quirks and habits that she hated only ever made him fall more and more in love with her every day.

"Stop staring at my ass."

Troy's eyes, that had slipped down to admire the way her jeans hugged the curves of her backside, snapped back up to her head, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips, "I wasn't staring at your ass."

Troy pushed off of the counter and began making his way over to her as she tossed him a look over her shoulder, "Please, Troy."

"I wasn't!" Troy defended, setting down the pan before turning to Gabriella, "I was merely admiring the pockets on the back of your jeans."

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow, "Is that so?"

Troy nodded, snaking his arms around her waist to slip his hands into her pockets, "Yep? See…great pockets."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, but stayed still, allowing him to continue to fondle her, "Really? And I suppose you're just admiring my shirt as well."

Troy shook his head, "No, I'm looking at your boobs." Gabriella retracted her hands from the sink and flicked water towards him, Troy recoiling as laughter rang from his lips, "Hey, I'm just being honest!"

Gabriella stuck her hands back into the sink, continuing with the dishes, "Take your honesty and go clear off the table."

Troy folded his arms and sent her a look, "I thought I wasn't allowed to help with the dishes?"

She snorted, "You would pick now to start listening to me." Shaking her head slightly, Gabriella finished with the pan she had been washing before moving onto the next dish, "Fine, do as you please." She said dismissively, "It's not like I work forty hours a week while taking eighteen hours of classes."

He chuckled lightly, "You ain't getting any sympathy from me, baby." He told her, "I live on a tour bus for all intensive purposes. My hourly workweek is probably double yours."

"Yes, but it's different," Gabriella pointed out, "you're actually getting to do what you love, I'm still working _towards_ getting to do what I love."

Troy nodded, "True. But you're _almost_ there."

Gabriella released a breath, "Finally."

"Finally." Troy echoed.

Silence encompassed the two for a moment, only the sound of running water existing between the couple. Based on the lack of noise coming from the dining room, Troy guessed that the three girls had vacated the area, either leaving the house or retreating to their rooms. An unconscious smile had settled onto Troy's lips, one he didn't realized had formed until Gabriella sent him a strange look. "What?"

Troy couldn't have kept the grin off of his face even if he tried, "You're dancing."

Gabriella shrugged, "So? I always dance."

Troy shook his head, "No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't," Troy repeated, "you only dance when you're happy."

Gabriella finished rinsing off the dish before setting it in the drying rack, "I dance all the time."

Troy, once again, shook his head, "Nope. Only when you're happy."

Gabriella sighed, turning towards Troy, "My boyfriend's visiting, am I not allowed to be happy?"

A cocky smile split onto Troy's face, "Of course you can, I just wanted you to admit it was because of me."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, preparing to turn back towards the dishes, only to have Troy grab her elbow and begin tugging her away from the sink, "What are you…"

Troy tugged her to him, the pair colliding in the center of the kitchen, Troy guiding her arms around his neck as he pulled her to him, "Dance with me."

Gabriella was careful not to let her soapy hands touch him, scoffing at his statement, "Troy, we're in the middle of the kitchen."

He shrugged, "So?"

"I have dishes to do before the food gets hardened on." Gabriella explained.

Troy shook his head, "One dance won't make a difference."

Gabriella sent him a look, "Troy there's no music."

"There wasn't any music before, either."

Her eyes turned upwards, obviously realizing arguing was futile, allowing him to sway her from side to side as they made a slow circle inside of the kitchen, "My hands are soapy."

Troy shook his head, "You're not getting out of this." he told her, "Plus, a little soap never killed anyone."

Gabriella pursed her lips, nodding her head, "You're right." Gabriella brought her hands up, and before Troy could attempt to deflect her, began wiping her hands free of the soap with Troy's hair. "Nothing…" Gabriella continued, smiling at the obvious laughter Troy was attempting to suppress, "…wrong…" bringing her hands down the front of Troy's face, "…with a little soap." She finished, wiping her hands completely dry on the front of Troy's shirt.

Troy nodded, reaching up to wipe the soap residue from his mouth, "I see how we're gonna play this."

He pulled away, and despite that he had a mixture of mischief and revenge written all over his face, Gabriella couldn't help but giggle, "Yeah, I'm afraid it is."

Troy simply nodded, stopping in front of the sink to turn on the water. "Okay."

Gabriella's eyes widened as she saw him begin to reach for the sprayer on the sink, "Troy…" Gabriella started in almost a panicked voice, "Troy, don't."

He sent her cocky grin, "Like I said, nothing wrong with a little soap, baby."

Gabriella held up her hands, "Troy…no." her feet automatically began backing her away, "Troy…I love you!"

"Aww…" Troy started, "I love you too."

Upstairs, inside of her bedroom, Sarah paused in her conversation with Kate, the two smiling softly as the sounds of Gabriella squealing filled the house.


	4. Embarrass

"_Nothing embarrasses her. One night we went out and she failed to notice she had underwear stuck to her dress shoulder, thanks to the dreaded laundry-basket-static-cling combo. But did she care? No. She laughed about it harder than anyone else."_

_

* * *

_

"_Record company's pissed."_

"_They'll get over it."_

"_Unless they fire us."_

"_They _won't_ fire us."_

"_You don't know that."_ Troy rolled his eyes as he listened to his best friends argue in front of him. Following completion of the dishes, as well as cleaning up the mess the pair made, the two had retired back to Gabriella's room. Gabriella, who had been covered from head to toe in soap suds, barricaded herself inside the bathroom, while Troy was left to dry off inside of her bedroom. Once his wet jeans and t-shirt had been traded for a pair of blue checkered pajama pants and a white wife beater, Troy had discovered missed calls from both of his bandmates and had decided to video conference both of them. Something he was now regretting.

Leaning back against Gabriella's headboard, he glanced over towards the closed bathroom door, noting the sound of a hairdryer coming from within. He rolled his eyes. It was ten o'clock, they were getting ready to go to bed, and she was making sure her hair was dry?

"_They might sue us."_

Troy glanced back at his computer sitting on his lap, taking note of the two screens holding the faces of Chad and Zeke. The record company had called and left a message on all three of their phones saying that they were unamused with all of their antics. Troy didn't think much of it. The point was that the band made too much money for the record company to actually follow through with any threats. And Chad agreed. But Zeke wasn't so sure.

"_They aren't going to sue us."_ Chad disputed, _"We haven't violated any of our contractual obligations. They'd have no grounds to sue us on."_

"_A lawsuit would still look bad."_ Zeke informed them, _"And they would drag their feet as much as possible, you both know it."_

Troy groaned and lifted his hands to cover his eyes while Chad was immediately on the defensive, _"But they wouldn't sue us!"_ he practically yelled, _"And if they're not going to sue us, there's going to be any case that they can drag their feet in."_

There was a pause, but Troy didn't bother uncovering his face, he was very tempted to pretend that his battery ran out of power right about now. _"You mind inserting your opinion, Troy?"_

"Yeah," Troy dropped his arms back to his sides, staring at his two friends, "my opinion is we took this little vacation, risking a lawsuit, so that we could spend time with our girlfriends and not kill each other. Yet here we are, spending time with each other and _not_ our girlfriends."

"_Taylor's working late tonight."_ Chad immediately informed him.

Zeke nodded his head in a random direction, _"Shar's got a meeting via webcam with the director for her next movie. He's in Hong Kong."_

Troy hadn't heard the blow dryer shut off, nor had he heard the bathroom door open, "Yes, well _my_ girlfriend is…"

"Right here."

Troy glanced up at Gabriella's voice, annoyance written all over his features, prepared to tell her it would just be a minute. However, words fell short on his lips as he took in the beauty in front of him. She was leaning against the doorway, one of her hands resting on her hip while the other twirled a strand of her perfectly curled strand between her fingers. Her makeup look like it had to have been done professionally, the black eye liner and shadow framing her chocolate eyes looking flawless, as well as the hint of rose on her cheekbones and cherry gloss on her lips. That had to have been what was taking her so long in the bathroom. It _must _have, because the scrap of cloth she was wearing couldn't have taken longer than a minute for her to shimmy into. And he planned on it taking even less time for her to get out of it.

The dress, and he used that term loosely, was held up by delicately thin straps that Troy guessed were designed to snap upon even the slightest tug. Straps attached to black and lacy balconette cups, offering little to no coverage and amplifying Gabriella's cleavage. The cups were sewn into a thin material that cascaded down her body, clinging to her every curve, ending at the tops of her thighs, just below the black thong he could make out beneath. Garters were connected to a pair of thigh-high stockings that highlighted her muscular legs that were further enhanced by the pair of black heels she was wearing.

"Whoa." Troy mumbled out, his eyes widened as they dragged up and down Gabriella's immaculate figure. She rarely dressed up in lingerie. Her shyness towards her own body combined with her logical brain convincing her that something in which Troy would most likely tear upon removal wasn't worth the cost always stopping her. However, on occasion, she would. And thank fucking god that today was an occasion.

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow, "Are you finished working, yet?"

"Yes." Troy said instantly, "I'm just…" he tore his eyes away from her for a minute, immediately clicking a few buttons.

"_Troy…"_

"_Wait!"_

He slammed the lid of his laptop closed before his friends could protest more, and set it on the nightstand. "All done."

A smirk stretched onto her features, "Excellent."

Troy released a shaky breath as Gabriella pushed off of the doorframe, feeling his blood begin to sear in his veins towards a more nether region in his body, "God…you look…amazing."

She continued to smile at him, "Why, thank…" her words molded into a yelp, and Troy felt a small gasp escape his lips as he watched the edge of Gabriella's heel catch on the carpet. He instinctively reached out to catch her. However, due to the distance between them, as well as the downward velocity that was only increased by her four inch heels, he was unable to reach her before she tumbled down onto the carpet with a thump.

His first reaction was to laugh. The corners of his mouth tugged upwards as he pursed his lips in an effort to resist. A futile effort. "Are you okay?" he tried to keep the laughter out of his voice. _Tried_ being the key word. Gabriella groaned in response. Pushing up from his spot, Troy glanced over the side of the bed and down at a motionless Gabriella.

"Ouch."

Troy bit his bottom lip, still attempting to hold back his laughter, "Are you okay?" he repeated. She paused, keeping her eyes on the ceiling, and Troy thought for a moment that perhaps she really was injured. But just for a moment. Just long enough to see her mouth twitch and her shoulders begin to shake. A wide smile split onto her face and he watched as her whole body began to vibrate with laughter, contagious laughter that quickly caught onto him as he felt his own face break into a grin. "Smooth." Troy managed out.

She released a particularly loud laugh, "It was supposed to be _sexy_!" Gabriella reached down, yanking at the straps of her heels, "Stupid…heels…"

Troy smirked, "Is that why I can see your breasts? I just thought this was a usual outfit." His reflexes were quick, and he was eternally thankful for that as the heel went flying past his head, "Whoa…"

Gabriella removed her other heel and chucked it at her closet door, "Funny, Troy…you're hilarious."

Troy was chuckling to himself as he stood up off of the bed, holding his hand out to Gabriella, "I happen to think so." Gabriella slid her hand into his and Troy easily pulled her up from the ground, "Next time you might want to trade the heels for your bunny slippers."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yes, because those scream sexy."

Troy nodded, "Duh."

She quirked an eyebrow, "Oversized furry creatures on my feet turn you on?"

He sent her a look, "Okay, when you say it like that, it sounds creepy. Plus, math turns you on!"

"Math does not…" Gabriella inhaled sharply as she felt Troy sweep down and scoop her off of the ground, "What are you…" she released an involuntary squeal as Troy tossed her onto the mattress, her body barely settling into the soft quilt before Troy moved on top of her.

"You look beautiful."

Gabriella released a breath before laughing at his quick change in subject, "Thank you."

Troy didn't put up any effort to resist as Gabriella placed her hands on his shoulders and switched their positions, Troy on his back with Gabriella straddling his waist, "What's the occasion?"

Gabriella smiled down at him, "Is you being here not enough of an occasion?"

Troy narrowed his eyes, "Depends, are you just saying that in hopes that I'll remember whatever it is I'm forgetting?"

Gabriella laughed, "No."

He studied her for a moment, obviously not trusting her, "Is it the anniversary of the first time I told you I love you? Kissed you?"

"No and no."

"First time we had sex?"

"_No_."

"First time I stuck my…"

"_NO!_" Gabriella smacked Troy on the chest, barely fazing the laughing male, "You're not forgetting anything! I swear." Gabriella leaned down, her hair falling and ticking the side of his face as it created a curtain around them, "But it is sweet that you at least attempt to keep all the dates straight."

Troy shrugged, "They're as important to me as they are to you." He sent her a sly smile, "Probably more important, you know, given that I love you more."

Gabriella could only grin, "Do not."

"Do too."

"Do _not_!"

"If I let you win will you kiss me?" Gabriella smiled, pleased that he was allowing her to win, and easily closed the gap between them, pressing a soft kiss to his lips. A smile stretched onto Troy's lips, and Gabriella found it infectious, her own smile forming despite that the pair didn't separate. Troy's hands had already found the edge of her dress and were working on separating the garters from the stockings. "Do too."

Gabriella giggled at his continuation of their banter, Troy smiling as he pressed a kiss into the side of her neck, "I already won."

"I was bluffing."

Gabriella tilted her head to the side, allowing Troy better access to her neck, "Were not."

"Were too."


	5. Wake Up

**A/N: **This is dedicated to the amazing Abigail, despite that it's early, happy birthday!

* * *

"_I absolutely love that any time she wakes up in the middle of the night she gives me a kiss on the cheek, like she's super psyched to see me lying next to her."_

_

* * *

_

Mmm…bliss. There was no other way to describe it. Despite that Troy hogged the covers and Gabriella would oftentimes wake up to him practically crushing her because he was on her side of the bed, she'd never trade a moment of this for anything else. Troy was still dead asleep, a given from the even breathing she felt against her shoulder, and if the lack of sunlight shining into her room was any indication, he would not be waking up anytime soon.

She slowly cracked open her eyes, her eyelids fighting against the sleep that wanted to overtake her, but her brain comprehending the pressure that had awakened her. Catching the time on the clock, Gabriella groaned as she flung the covers off of her body. "Early…" Gabriella mumbled to herself, allowing Troy's arm that had been resting around her waist to fall onto the mattress as she slipped out from beneath the covers.

Stumbling towards the bathroom, Gabriella rubbed her eyes tiredly, barely dodging her heels and bunny slippers that were strewn across the carpet. She was quick, eager to rejoin her boyfriend in bed and fall back into the deep slumber she had been awakened from. Drying her hands on the towel, Gabriella shut off the bathroom light and prepared to walk back over to the bed, only to stop at the sight she was faced with upon coming into view of her bed. Troy had taken over her side of the bed, as she had been certain he would, however, he was for once not hogging the cover, evident by his naked butt that was currently facing her.

Rolling her eyes, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she ventured forward, making a pit stop to grab a pair of underwear from her drawers and Troy's wife beater from the floor. "Troy…" Gabriella started as she pulled the shirt over her head, "You're on my side of the bed again."

No response. No change in breathing, no interruption of his soft snores, nothing. Gabriella made her way towards the bed, crossing her arms over her stomach, "Troy…" She came to stop behind him and still he didn't move. For a moment, she considered just going to his side of the bed. It's not like it _really _mattered.

Nah…

Raising her hand, Gabriella quickly swung it downwards, her hand coming into contact with the bare skin of Troy's backside. There must have been a portion of him that was awake, or he just had really good reflexes, because almost instantly he released a loud groan of protest before shifting onto his stomach, "My side of the bed." Gabriella said childishly as she slid into the space he had vacated, "I got a queen sized bed so we wouldn't have these issues."

Troy settled on his side, facing Gabriella, molding into her side once she settled into the mattress, and for a second, she thought he was actually asleep, until she felt his arm settle across her stomach, his hand coming to rest on top of her left breast. Oh no, he was most definitely awake.

Gabriella sent him a look in the darkness, "Troy…"

A small smile was resting on his lips, but his eyes were still closed, "Don't get hands-y with me and expect to not get it in return."

Gabriella giggled, "Sorry, you were on my side of the bed and you're butt's just too cute to not be slapped."

Despite that his eyes were shut, his eyebrow twitched, "I'll remember that next time we're in public."

She rolled her eyes, but Gabriella kept her mouth shut. Knowing Troy, he'd wake up tomorrow and think this was all a dream anyways, so the less memorable she made it, the better chances she had that he wouldn't try and fondle her in the grocery store or wherever they went next. Letting her eyes fall shut, Gabriella instinctively tilted her head sideways until it came to rest against Troy's. His breathing had become even again, and she could tell that he was quickly succumbing to the fatigue that plagued him throughout his tour. He was trying to hide it, and doing a good job, but Gabriella could tell he was exhausted. And she imagined if he was in Las Vegas like he was supposed to be, he'd probably coop himself up inside of his hotel room and pass out until the show.

Reopening her eyes, Gabriella focused on Troy's features blanketed in the moonlight. For the longest time, Gabriella never believed him when he told her how difficult it was on the road. How difficult could it be to do something you love every night and get paid millions of dollars to do it? But then, a couple of summers ago, the band had gone on tour, and Gabriella had been able to tag along for a good majority of it. Every single night it was a different city, sometimes a different state, never the same place twice, and never an unoccupied moment. First and foremost there was practicing, then there was writing new songs, and set lists, and meet and greets they were expected to attend. It was hectic. Gabriella barely left Troy's side through it all, and yet she felt like she barely got to spend any time with him. She didn't know how he did it, let alone keep up a long distance relationship with her.

A soft smile played on her lips, and before she could stop herself, Gabriella leaned forward and quickly pressed a kiss to his cheek. He inhaled sharply, obviously not having expected the action, cracked open his eyes, "What was that for?"

Gabriella shrugged, "Just being here, I know you're busy, so I'm really glad you could come and visit."

His eyes settled shut again, the lids too heavy to lift, "I'd go anywhere you are."

Gabriella couldn't have restrained the smile that appeared on her face even if she wanted to, her heart melting at Troy's words, "Anywhere?"

He nodded, "Anywhere."

"What if I moved to the middle of the desert?"

"Oh yeah. You and me in the middle of the desert, without any interruptions?" Troy asked rhetorically, "Sign me up."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Antarctica?"

"They say body heat is the best way to stay warm."

"China?" Gabriella asked, "With a billion other people."

He nodded his head, "I would with you."

She paused for a moment, narrowing her eyes, "A church," she started, her voice softer this time, "in front of our family and friends?"

He paused for a moment, and Gabriella almost thought he had fallen back asleep when he answered, "_Only_ with you."

She didn't think it was possible to love Troy any more than she already did, but with those three words, somehow, she did. Marriage wasn't something the couple really discussed. Three years earlier, when Gabriella was in her junior year of college and Troy was busting his butt touring and promoting his music, the couple had hit a rouge patch. It was the first and only time in which Gabriella would associate the term 'break up' with their relationship, although, neither one had ever officially muttered the words. It was a combination of the never having enough time for each other, Troy feeling like he was holding Gabriella back, Gabriella's insecurities over the girls that threw themselves at Troy, and the distance all lumped into one big fight that left the pair reeling for weeks. It was the longest they had ever gone without speaking.

However, after almost a month of no communication, Gabriella had received an 'F' on one of her exams, which to under normal circumstances may have been something she could handle. However, at that point, it was the last straw. She had broken down crying to her mother, and once they had gotten off of the phone her mother had called Troy. Troy had flown out to see her, the pair had talked, promises had been made, things were worked out, and it was shortly thereafter that they had their first discussion on marriage. They both agreed it was something they wanted to do, but that neither was ready for it at that point. That had been three years early and neither had brought up the topic since.

Turning to face him, Gabriella snuggled against him, Troy's arms tightening around her waist. "I'm gonna come and visit you soon."

"When?"

She shrugged, "I don't know, but I'll work it out."

"_Or_ you could just let me do something a little more exciting than LA for spring break."

Gabriella snorted, "I think most people would agree that LA is exciting."

"Come on," he goaded, "I found a gorgeous little resort in Turks and Caicos."

He'd get his way, he _always_ got his way. But she couldn't deny that as time passed, she was getting more comfortable with allowing him to spoil her. Just barely, she'd still make he return a gift she received that violated her rules, but she was getting to the point where letting him splurge on vacations where they could be alone no longer made her feel guilty. "How gorgeous?"

A smirk formed on his lips, a sign that he knew he had won, "Not half as gorgeous as you are."

Gabriella sighed, "Maybe." His grin widened, "I said maybe. I'll need to see if work will even let me off."

His smile didn't falter, "Thank you."

She rolled her eyes, "Yeah, whatever."

"You keep stealing all of my clothing and I'll have to start walking around naked." He murmured against her hair, referring to his shirt she was wearing.

She scoffed, "Like you'd mind."

Troy chuckled, "I love you my little clothes stealing girlfriend."

Gabriella grinned, "Likewise my bunny slipper loving boyfriend."


	6. Sink

**A/N: **Super short, but *shrug*, take it or leave it.

* * *

"_She sits in the bathroom sink to get closer to the mirror."_

_

* * *

_

"How's it going, trooper?"

Gabriella didn't pause in the application of her primer to the skin of her forehead, "Fine."

"You sure?"

Finally finishing with her primer, Gabriella set the bottle onto the counter before snatching up her foundation, "As sure as I was five seconds ago when you asked me."

Inside her bedroom, Troy frowned. The pair had plans to go out and actually _see_ the city that day. Gabriella had a list of places to take Troy, and Troy had a list of ways to distract Gabriella from dragging him to said places. He knew she was excited to show him around town and the campus. It was her life, for all intensive purposes, and he understood, he felt the same way about when she came to visit him on tour. However, he'd seen Stanford, both the college and the campus, many, _many_, MANY times. When they were freshman, he drove down every other weekend to see her, and even after he left Berkeley he still made a habit of taking trips to visit her whenever he could. She'd shown him the restaurant she worked at. She'd shown him her favorite places on campus. Hell, she'd even shown him the grocery store she shopped at every week. He'd _seen_ Stanford, and he wasn't really interested in seeing it again.

Strumming lightly on his acoustic guitar, Troy glanced at the partially open bathroom door. He couldn't see Gabriella, but he could hear her moving around inside of there getting ready. It was Sunday and logically, since everything opened later, Troy had assumed they would be sleeping in that morning. No such luck. She had woken him up at eight and informed him of her plans for the day, and despite his protests, it was nine-fifteen and he was dressed and ready to go for the day.

"Didn't you say you wanted to leave by nine?" Troy asked rhetorically, hoping to emphasize that _she_ was the reason they were running late, "Despite that nothing opens until after noon."

"Hush, you!" Troy couldn't help but smile slightly at the playfulness in her tone, "It's difficult being the girlfriend of a rockstar, Troy. You wouldn't understand."

Troy snorted, "_I_ wouldn't understand?" he repeated, "What exactly wouldn't I understand?"

"The whole keeping up an image thing," Gabriella quipped, "you _just _wouldn't understand."

She was teasing. He knew she was teasing, but he didn't seem able to bite his tongue fast enough to prevent the next comment from slipping out, "I understand," he started, "I understand being my girlfriend requires you to keep up an image," he leaned down and tossed open the lid to his guitar case, not really caring as it slammed into the side of the wall, "it's why you won't fucking move to Los Angeles." His angry tone wasn't directed at her. Even from inside of the bathroom, Gabriella knew that.

The job offer. They didn't talk about it because the last time they talked about it, they fought. And not just a little fight. A bad fight. A _really_ bad fight where both said things they didn't mean, Troy stormed out, and Gabriella ended up crying herself to sleep. It had been the first bad fight they had had like that since getting back together, and while they worked through it, neither had had the guts to bring back up the job offer. Gabriella would admit that there was a side of her that knew how big of an opportunity this was. Working in New York under one of the top attorneys in the country would open so many doors. However, a bigger side of her knew that New York couldn't be the only place where she'd get good offers, it _wasn't _the only place where she had gotten offers, and if she had to choose between New York and Troy, she would _always _choose Troy. Not that he knew that because they never talked about it.

Gabriella took a deep breath, "Troy…"

"So where are you planning on taking me?" Troy cut her off, his cheerful tone forced, "_Please_ tell me you're not taking me to see that boss of yours again." Closing his case, Troy pushed up from the bed, "I know you love him, but he's annoying as hell."

Gabriella sighed silently, glancing back up at her reflection in the mirror. They should talk about it. She should use this opportunity to transition into the topic where the two could have a calm discussion about everything. But she was selfish. They had been having such a great time. Even though time was passing by way too quickly, they had been making the most of it, and she didn't want to risk that this could spark another fight. "No," she said finally, "I promise, I'm taking you some places you've never been before."

Troy sent her a look through the door as he slid his feet into his shoes, "You say that every time."

"Yes, but this time I'm not just saying it so you won't argue."

Troy chuckled lightly, "So you're telling me that you've lied to me all the previous times we've been through this, but I'm supposed to believe that _this_ time you aren't?"

"Exactly!"

Stopping in front of the door, Troy leaned against the doorframe, "And why is that?"

"Mmm…because you love me?"

He rolled his eyes, but figured it was better to stay mum. Talking only distracted her, and the sooner they got out of here, the sooner they could get this whole thing over with. Pushing open the door, Troy peered inside of the bathroom, pausing to let a smile stretch onto his features. She wasn't paying attention to him, applying her eyeliner to the bottom lid, focused entirely on the task at hand. However, that wasn't what made Troy smile. It was the fact that Gabriella had obviously grown frustrated with her inability to get close enough to the mirror, and instead of choosing to lean over the sink, had perched herself inside of it. He lifted his hands, as though he was holding a camera, and zeroed in on Gabriella's form inside of the sink just as she took notice of him, her eyes connecting with his through the mirror. She gave him a smile, and he took his 'picture'.

Saved forever in his head.


	7. Tank

**A/N:** I don't even know if she reads this, but this is for Diana. I promise, as soon as we find out who this girl is, we'll use my expertise on explosives to take her out. *hug*

And Happy Birthday, Van, Kate, Abby, and all you other November babies...we rock!

* * *

"_She lives in fear that if the car goes below half a tank, it may stop, leaving us stranded in the middle of nowhere. So she's obsessed with keeping my tank full."_

* * *

"Okay, so I thought we'd start by going to the mall."

"Wow," Troy started, "and you ruined my day with one phrase."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, keeping her attention focused on the traffic in front of her as she maneuvered the car in the direction of their mall, "Come on Troy, _try_ to be cooperative. Your mom's birthday's coming up soon and I know you haven't gotten her a gift yet."

"Not true," Troy retorted, "I got her a really cool shirt when I went to New York."

Gabriella brought the car came to a halt in front of a red stoplight, sending Troy an incredulous look, "A t-shirt? You're getting the woman who gave birth to you a t-shirt for her birthday?"

Troy shrugged, "It's a really cool t-shirt." He defended lamely, "Plus there's some other stuff I have for her. The band went to one of those after parties during fashion week or something and I got a purse for her. One for you too."

Gabriella nodded, "Not gonna lie, that's more than I expected." Troy sent her a glare over the top of his sunglasses, "What kind of purse?"

Troy frowned, "The useful kind?"

"No, I mean like designer." Gabriella elaborated, "Prada, Gucci, Dooney & Burkes, Balenciaga…"

Troy shook his head, "I don't know, what does it matter?"

Gabriella pressed on the gas pedal as the light changed to green in front of them, "I don't know, what does it matter, Mr. Four hundred dollar jeans?"

"These jeans were a gift!" Troy shot back, an edge to his voice that Gabriella couldn't help but giggle at. Troy went to great lengths to make sure his four hundred dollar jeans and hundred dollar t-shirt looked like they were about an eighth of the price, and Gabriella went to great lengths to make sure she could tease him about it. Troy crossed his arms angrily, glaring through the windshield, out towards the car in front of them, "You know, girls don't get made fun of when they buy expensive purses or shoes."

Gabriella made a left turn, "Yes, well girls don't pretend to hate shopping."

Rolling his eyes, Troy huffed, "Fine, I'll go to the fucking mall." His eyes took in where they were and his brow furrowed in confusion, "This isn't the mall."

Gabriella maneuvered the car around the parking lot, "Thank you captain obvious."

Troy glanced around the gas station before double checking her gas gauge just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, "Babe, you have a half of a tank."

"Actually, I have three eighths of a tank." Gabriella corrected, bringing the car to a stop next to one of the pumps.

Troy sent her a look, "Tell me you don't still have that thing? I thought that was just something you were doing because you were a new driver."

Gabriella killed the engine, "I was not a new driver, I've been driving since I was sixteen, I just didn't have a car, nor do I need a car."

Troy lifted his eyebrows, "The ten thousand miles on this car say differently."

Gabriella grabbed her purse from the floor, dropping/throwing it purposely onto Troy's lap, causing him to stiffen and release a small groan, "That's because I have to drive to visit my stupid boyfriend."

Gabriella retracted her wallet from the confines of her purse just before Troy picked it up and dropped it onto the center console between the two seats, "You know, if we injure _that_, both of us suffer."

Gabriella pushed open her door, fishing through her wallet for her credit card, "That's you assuming that I only get _that_ from you."

Troy rolled his eyes, "Please, you called me in tears sophomore year when your lab partner kissed you thinking I'd break up with you."

Dropping her wallet onto the seat, she yanked her purse towards her as her hand disappeared inside, "I wasn't crying, I was just upset." Grabbing the bottom of her purse, Gabriella overturned it, emptying the contents onto her seat, "Shit…"

"What?"

"I can't find my credit card." Gabriella informed Troy, searching through her purse's contents to no avail.

"When was the last time you saw it?"

Gabriella sighed, lifting her gaze to meet Troy's, "Last night…we bought groceries, I had it then."

Troy looked up, appearing to be searching his memory, "I think you put it in your pocket…are you wearing the same pants."

Gabriella patted her empty pockets, "No."

Troy nodded, "I'm sure I remember you putting it there." He reached down and grabbed her wallet, pulling out a card, "Just use your other one, we'll get it…"

"No." Gabriella cut him off.

Troy sent her an odd look, "What?"

"Not my credit card," Gabriella told him, "that's _your_ credit card."

Shaking his head, Troy pointed to the front of the card, "That's not what the card says."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Yes, well, the card does not know that we don't pay it off every month."

Troy nodded, "Yes we do."

"No we don't."

"Yes we do." Troy repeated, "And I resent the implication that I don't, I have an excellent credit score."

Gabriella pointed at him, "Exactly, _you_ have an excellent credit score because _you_ pay it off every month, not me. You won't even take money from me!"

"Why would I take money from you?" Troy asked, "You never use the card."

Gabriella groaned in frustration, "Troy, I am _freaking_ out right now, do not do this." She began to stuff everything back into her purse, "I need to go home and get it."

"Fine," Troy relented, "but your gas tank's gonna get lower. Maybe even down to _two_ eighths."

"One fourth." Gabriella corrected.

"Same difference." Troy held out the credit card, dangling it in front of her face, "Fill up, you know you want to."

Gabriella studied the card for a moment, obviously battling with inner voices, before snatching it from his hand, "I will pay you back."

Troy snorted, leaning back against his seat, "No, you won't."

Gabriella returned, and Troy could hear the sounds of the car filling up in the background as she shoved the credit card back into her wallet, "Yes, I will."

"It's unnecessary." Troy told her.

"It's _completely_ necessary." Gabriella bit back, turning and facing toward the pump.

"Thank you, honey." Troy mocked, "You are _so_ welcome, baby. You know I'd do anything for you because I love you _so_ much." She rolled her eyes, but stayed quiet, glaring at the pump, "Aww, I love you too, Troy. You are such a better person than I am." Troy continued, "Aww…darling…"

"Keep it up and the conversation will remain one-sided until you fly to Vegas." Gabriella interrupted.

Troy grinned, "I'm gonna have to be the one that teaches all of our kids their manners, aren't I?"

An unwilling smile tugged at her lips, despite that she tried to repress it. She sighed, "Thank you."

Troy smiled victoriously as he heard the click signaling the end of fueling, "You're welcome."

Gabriella quickly finished the transaction, grabbing her receipt before climbing back into her car, "Don't gloat, it doesn't suit you."

Troy's smile didn't falter as Gabriella started the car and moved it out of park, "Actually, I happen to think gloating suits me perfectly." Troy informed her, "Are we still going to the mall?" Troy inquired as Gabriella made a right back onto the main street.

"No, first we're going home to get my card," Gabriella explained, "and then to the bank so that I can pay you back."

Troy shook his head, "No, I have other ways I want you to pay me back…like back massages…and brownies." Gabriella knew he was trying to cheer her up by making jokes, but she wasn't going to crack a smile. Not only did she hate to use Troy's money for anything, she was panicking over the possibility that her card _wasn't _in the pocket of her jeans. "Oh." Gabriella glanced over as Troy spoke up, finding him staring oddly at a credit card he had just pulled from his pocket, "Is _this_ the credit card you wanted?" Gabriella's jaw slackened and her eyes widened as they connected with his, a cocky grin gracing his lips to reveal that this was no accident, "Oops."


	8. Playground

**A/N: **For those of you who still set out milk and cookies for Santa…don't read this chapter. Consider yourself warned.

* * *

"_My girlfriend has a laugh that reminds me so much of Ernie's from_ _Sesame Street_. _I like how love can bring you back to childhood."_

* * *

"Come on, you've got to eventually talk to me."

Gabriella kept her face impassive and didn't even bother glancing back at Troy as he trailed behind her. They had gone to the mall, as planned, picked out a couple of birthday presents for Lucille Bolton, had lunch, and were currently on their way back to Gabriella's car. It had the makings of a nearly perfect day. Troy got to spend some uninterrupted time with his girlfriend, no one recognized him, forcing him to remember that he had to leave in a couple of days, and the sun was shining bright, blanketing the little college town. The day would've been nearly perfect. Had he not spent it in complete silence. Well, not complete silence. Turns out Troy had an uncanny ability to narrate his and Gabriella's actions. However, Gabriella remained silent, despite Troy's attempts to get her to speak.

"Come on," Troy coaxed, "you love me."

Gabriella scoffed.

Oh, right. Troy narrated and Gabriella made sound effects.

"I let you buy me socks," Troy reminded her, "what more do you expect from me?"

"Nothing!" Gabriella spun around, sending daggers towards Troy, "I expect _nothing_ from you."

Troy smiled, "Oh, good, you're talking to me again."

Gabriella released a groan, resuming her quest towards her car, "You're impossible!"

Troy was instantly chasing after her again, "Baby, it was a tank of gas, chill."

"Do not tell me to chill, Troy!" Gabriella practically screeched, turning to face him again, "I thought my credit card was lost!"

"But it wasn't," Troy defended, "so calm down."

"But I didn't know that," Gabriella pointed out, "for all I knew, someone could be out stealing my identity." Troy rolled his eyes once her back was to him. She was blowing this way out of proportion. His eyes turned to the side, and just as he was beginning to contemplate his next form of groveling, something caught his attention.

"I get that you're a big kid, Troy. Really, I do." Gabriella started, arriving at her car and beginning to shove the bags into her trunk, "And 95% of the time, I love that about you, but you can't just _do_ things like this." Shutting her trunk, Gabriella turned to face where Troy was, "How would you like it if…"

Or at least where Troy _should've _been.

Gabriella glanced to either side upon finding the spot in front of her empty, and she narrowed her eyes when she found her boyfriend's back facing her as he walked away. "Troy!" he didn't stop nor pause, he just continued on his path, "_Troy!_"

"It's not so much fun to be ignored, is it?" he called back, continuing towards his destination.

Gabriella crossed her arms and huffed in annoyance, "Troy, what are you doing?" this time, receiving no response, Gabriella advanced forward to where Troy had ventured and found her twenty four year old boyfriend across the street and currently climbing the ladder leading into the jungle gym. Checking the make sure no cars were coming, Gabriella quickly crossed the street, "Troy, get off of there!"

"You're not my mother, you can't make me." he replied childishly.

"See!?!" Gabriella exclaimed, "_This_ is what I'm talking about."

Troy reached the lowest platform and began to make his way to the highest one, "I thought you liked that I was a kid 95% of the time?"

Gabriella nodded, "Yes, well, when we're having discussions…"

"I think you mean arguments." Troy quipped.

"…that falls into the 5% range." Gabriella finished, "What is your deal, Troy? Why do you have to keep pushing this money thing?"

"Why do _I_ have to keep pushing this money thing?" Troy asked, "You're the one that keeps making an issue out of it. I don't seem to recall you having any sorts of qualms with me spending money on you back in high school or college."

"That was different."

Troy leaned against the ledge, sending her a look that showed he wasn't buying it, "Enlighten me."

Gabriella sent him a look, "Back then you actually let me pay for things. Sure, you were still the macho boyfriend who has to pay for everything most of the time, but occasionally you did let me buy you things."

"Hello?" Troy asked rhetorically, "You just bought me socks."

"Oh my god," Gabriella groaned, "I'm going to chuck those things at you if you're not careful."

"I don't get why you're making a big deal out of this," Troy continued, "things are different now. Then…we were just two poor college kids. Now…"

"Now, I'm still a poor college kid." Gabriella finished for him, "I'm up to my eyeballs in debt for school. I have to work a job where guys grab my ass all night just so I can pay my rent." Troy opened his mouth to speak, but Gabriella cut him off, "I'm glad life has worked out for you the way it has, really, I am. You may not see it, but you are _so_ happy now. This is what you want to do; this is what you were made to do. And I know that being a lawyer is what I am made to do, but I'm not there yet, and I cannot afford to give you the kinds of gifts you deserve in return from me."

"Gabi, I don't want gifts from you." Troy explained, "I didn't want gifts from you when we were in high school, and I don't want gifts from you now." He looked down and sighed, his shoulders deflating a bit, "Babe…I dote on you, because every time you receive a gift, you get a sparkle in your eye. You look like a little kid at Christmas before they found out Santa didn't exist. So innocent and so beautiful. I love you more than I can possibly convey, but every time I see that face, I fall a little more in love with you. I'm sorry you don't like receiving the gifts, but as long as you keep making that face, I'm going to take every opportunity I can to see it."

Gabriella sighed, her heart becoming a big pile of mush at his words, "Its not that I don't like the gifts." Troy ducked down inside of the slide and Gabriella walked forward slowly, meeting him at the exit, "But do they _have_ to be so extravagant."

"They're not all extravagant," Troy defended, still sitting on the edge of the slide, "you're just still hung up on the car."

"That's because it's a _car_!" Gabriella gestured over in its general direction, "A really expensive car."

"That will last you for years." Troy pointed out, "And if you don't like it, don't think of it as I got it for you, think of it as a gift for Chad and Taylor."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, "How is a car for me a gift for our best friends."

Troy shook his head, "No, not our best friends Chad and Taylor, our future children Chad and Taylor."

Gabriella scoffed, "Oh no, no, no…we are not naming our children after Chad…or Taylor."

Troy made a face, standing up from his spot, "Okay, so I've been meaning to talk with you about that. So…I may have kinda made a bet with Chad…and I might have to give him our firstborn child. But, that's okay…" Troy defended quickly, "we can make more."

Gabriella rolled her eyes, "Right, and our girl is named after Taylor because…?"

Troy shrugged, "Well, we're _not_ naming her after Sharpay."

Tilting her head to the side, Gabriella crossed her arms over her stomach, "What makes you think I'd have children with you anyways?"

Troy paused for a moment, "Because I'm cute?"

Narrowing her eyes, Gabriella sidestepped Troy and began making her way across the playground, "Are you?"

Troy turned and watched her head over towards the monkey bars, "Mm-hmm. And I have a great personality."

Reaching up, Gabriella gripped the bars with her hands, "Eh…"

Troy watched as she bent her legs, allowing herself to swing back and forth. Gabriella was never the athletic person of the group, so half of Troy was convinced that he'd be calling an ambulance before the night was through. "Careful…"

Gabriella smiled, "I was an excellent monkey bar swinger." She expertly swung her legs up and caught them on the bar. Sliding her calves through and locking them into place allowed her hands to be free; her body entirely inverted as she hung from the bars. "It's not really hard at all. Try it."

Walking over to where she was, Troy smiled, "I'm good."

"You're not to steal my credit card again." Gabriella instructed.

Troy nodded, "Yes ma'am."

"And I want presents limited to actual important dates." Gabriella told him, "Anniversaries and stuff like that."

He raised his eyebrows, "So I can't get you presents occasionally just because?"

Remembering his words, Gabriella couldn't help but re-melt at his description of her face. It made him happy, and when she boiled everything else away, that was really all that mattered. "Yes, you can…occasionally," she tacked on, "and within reason."

"Of course."

"And you have to kiss me."

Troy smirked, "Always."

"Now," Gabriella instructed, "like in _Spiderman_."

Troy rolled his eyes, "The blood is rushing to your head right now."

"Then you better do it quickly."

Sighing, Troy dropped down onto his knees, bringing his face to Gabriella's level, "And what if I'm such an amazing kisser that you go weak kneed and fall and die."

"You're not that good of a kisser." Troy jaw dropped open and Gabriella giggled, "I _mean_, what a way to go."

Troy leaned in, his face hovering in front of hers, "That's right…I may be Mary Jane in this kiss, but dammit I can still make your knees go weak."

Gabriella was smiling softly, "Troy, just shut up and kiss me."

"Gladly."


	9. Storm

"_Whenever there's a thunderstorm, she leads me into the bedroom and asks me to lie down with her and just listen."_

_

* * *

_

Time was their enemy.

A shiver ran up Gabriella's spine, her eyes flashing over towards the rain covered window as a clap of thunder sounded outside. It had been raining steadily all day long, but once the sun went down, the pace had picked up, and coupled with Troy's impending departure, the storm seemed that much worse. Pulling her gaze away from the window, she refocused on the scene in front of her. A scene she had seen far too many times and a scene that never failed to break her heart, Troy packing.

"My flight is tomorrow." Gabriella's eyes followed Troy as he walked out of the bathroom, carrying a few of his personal items as he walked towards his open duffle bag that was sitting at the end of her bed. The days were long and short. The moments she spent with him never seemed to be enough, and the moments she had to spend apart from him never seemed to end.

Snuggling further into the down comforter on her bed, Gabriella watched as Troy haphazardly folded his recently washed clothing before throwing it into his suitcase, attempting to not drop the iPhone he was holding between his head and shoulder. He had been fielding calls for the better part of the evening, all about his concert the next evening, and all cutting into the precious time the pair had left with one another. "I'm dropping Gabriella off at her class and then heading straight to the airport," Troy explained into the phone, "I'll be there in plenty of time, calm down."

Zipping up the duffle bag, he grabbed the handle and lifted it up, moving it onto the floor, "Look, I get that you're worried, but everything's going to work out fine. So tell whoever's riding you that I tell them to fuck off, because you're interrupting my time with my girlfriend, so…Do. Not. Bother. Me. Again. Got it?" Gabriella wasn't sure if the person he was talking to gave a short response or if Troy decided the conversation was no longer worth having, but either way he lowered the phone and ended the call, "Money…money…money," Troy imitated, turning off his phone, "it's all about money. It rules everyone and everything."

Gabriella nodded, "Welcome to life."

Troy shook his head as he slid the phone into his pocket, "Not me. Not in a couple of years, at least."

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow, "Really?"

"Mm-hmm," Troy confirmed, "I'm quitting in a couple of years…didn't I tell you?" he asked rhetorically, "Once you become a hotshot lawyer, I'm going to quit and just stay home with the children."

Gabriella sent him a look of disbelief, "What children? Our children?" he nodded, "Uh…no, if anyone's quitting it's me. I'm not a baby-maker for you, Troy."

He narrowed his eyes, "You'd never quit."

"Same thing applies to you."

Troy nodded his head in agreement, "True. But I am serious about the quitting thing when the children thing happens. I figure it won't happen immediately, and we'll both have good enough jobs that we can afford the time off to be with him…her…it…them, you know…whatever."

Gabriella held up her hand, "Whoa, whoa, whoa…what's gotten into you?"

Troy glanced to the side, "What are you talking about?"

"Troy, I can count on two fingers the numbers of conversations we've had about marriage and kids," Gabriella eyed him suspiciously, "what's wrong with you?"

Troy chuckled, rolling his eyes, "Nothing's _wrong_ with me. Am I not allowed to imagine a future with you? Do _you_ not see your future with me?"

"Of course I do," Gabriella answered immediately, "but I decided to marry you after the second date."

Troy snorted, "Second date?" he asked, "You mean I've been trying all this time and I didn't even need to?"

Her eyes narrowed into a mini-glare, "Troy."

Sighing, Troy shrugged, "I don't know…maybe it's the fact that everything's in the foreseeable future now. You know…you getting out of college…all that." He was shifting, seemingly uncomfortable under Gabriella's gaze, "See…this is why I don't talk about it!"

Gabriella giggled lightly, and opened her mouth to respond, only to have a particularly loud clap of thunder ring through the apartment, sending another shiver down Gabriella's spine. Troy's attention was only momentarily diverted, but Gabriella was transfixed by the bright lightening that flashed through the window, "So what do you want to do tonight?" he asked, his obvious attempt to get her mind off of the storm, "You wanna get dressed up and go out to eat?" snuggling into the covers even further, she shook her head. "Baby, it's just rain."

Reaching out, Gabriella tugged him towards the bed, Troy not at all resisting as he moved onto the mattress, "I know." She answered as Troy settled in behind her, Gabriella moving the covers over him as he wrapped his arm around her waist, "But it's mean, scary rain."

"That is still just rain." He dropped his head, pressing a kiss into the curve of her neck, easily settling into a silence. Her brain was still buzzing, as was his, but neither of them could bring themselves to speak first. However, he was leaving tomorrow. It was now or never. "We need to talk about it." He whispered softly.

Her response was quick, "About the atrocity that was the World Series this year?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, "Yes. _Yes_ we do!"

"Gabi…" his tone held no amusement, and Gabriella knew she couldn't divert with jokes.

"I know," she said with a sigh, "but not now." Gabriella shut her eyes and inhaled deeply, "Right now…let's just listen."

Troy wanted to push her, he _needed_ to push her, but he wouldn't push her. Instead, he shut his eyes, pressed a kiss to the back of her head, and listened.


	10. Talk

**A/N:** I just want to start by saying that you guys rock. I honestly didn't think that anyone would want to read this story, and your reviews and encouragement for it have been amazing. I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I truly hope you guys enjoy this chapter, it will be the last one. Thanks again!

* * *

"_When we kiss, if I pull away, she'll still be leaning toward me with her lips puckered and her eyes closed. It's so adorable that I have to kiss her some more."_

_

* * *

_

Troy loved thunderstorms. Despite that his girlfriend loathed them, Troy simply couldn't get enough. It had a lot to do with the fact that he had always lived in portions of the country where it didn't necessarily rain often. His summers were filled with hot days and his winters were filled with cool nights, but neither ever resulted in my precipitation. So when it did, it was a huge treat for him. That and because it knocked him out. Troy could be put to sleep by a rainstorm and wake up the next morning feeling brand new. Even after months of touring, months of waking up in a different bed every morning, and months of going to sleep every night with a set plan knowing that he would be met with a completely different one by the time he woke, he would jump out of bed and be so utterly rejuvenated that his (at times annoyingly) optimistic girlfriend would ask him what was wrong. It was wonderful. And he cherished these few precious thunderstorms he got to experience by passing out and only waking when he absolutely had to. Except for right now. Right now, instead of sleeping as thunder and lightening crashed all around him, he was lying awake. Because as much as he cherished the storms…

He cherished her more.

Darkness blanketed the pair and Troy was reveling in its secrecy. Gabriella had long since fallen asleep, and once her eyes had drooped shut, Troy had taken to watching her. Gabriella hated when he did that, but Troy simply couldn't help it. The random sighs she released, the talking, how angelic she looked blanketed in the moonlight, he just couldn't resist any of it no matter how hard he tried.

Reaching up, Troy brushed a strand of her dark hair away from her face, Gabriella neither flinching nor waking at the movement. He wanted to wake her. He wanted to spend as much time as humanly possible with her before he had to leave the next day, knowing that despite anything he might've told her, the next time they would see each other for an extended period of time would be her spring break. In March, two months away. However, not only did she look extremely peaceful in her sleep, but Troy was also dreading what would inevitably come when he woke her, their talk.

He didn't want to talk about it. He didn't even want to think about it. He was already having a difficult enough time handling the fact that his job kept him away from her for 75% of the year, and now her job was doing something similar by moving her to New York. He didn't want her to do it. A very large and very vocal part of him that kept her engagement ring hidden in his toiletry bag didn't want her to go. They'd been planning this ever since Troy's career took off and Gabriella entered law school. Once she graduated, she'd move into his apartment in LA, they'd get engaged, buy a house, and spend the rest of their lives together. His realtor was already looking around for a house and he'd cleared out half of his closet and drawers. He had a reserved parking spot for her car at the apartment complex, and he'd even taken the liberty of scouting out a few lawfirms in LA. He'd banked on this plan. Through all the ups and downs of their relationship, he had clung to the light at the end of the tunnel, and now…that light was in New York.

Troy didn't deserve her. He'd know for a long time he didn't deserve her, but for some godforsaken reason, Gabriella wanted him. Maybe she was crazy, confused, or whatever, but for some reason, she wanted him, and as long as she wanted him, he'd stay. However, this time things were different. Say he let her go. Say she moved to New York and worked at this prestigious lawfirm, getting the experience she needed. There was this part of him, a part that grew larger every day, that feared that she would realize what he truly was, or more importantly, who she truly was. That she'd begin to see herself for the amazingly brilliant and beautiful woman she was, and even worse, she'd find someone who matched her in those categories. But could he really be that selfish? Could he really have her sacrifice her own future just for his own fears?

"Mmm…" Troy was drawn out of his thoughts at Gabriella's voice. Her eyebrows were furrowed together, and she looked to be having an unpleasant dream. "No…"

Troy scooted towards her, slipping his arms around her waist, "Baby?" Gabriella didn't wake but he did hear her release a sigh, "Gabi?"

"Hmm?"

It was an automatic response from her, but Troy was pretty sure she had actually heard him, whether she registered it or not. Lifting one of his hands, he placed it under her chin to point her head up towards his, "You're having a dream." He whispered against her lips, receiving a grunt in response. A small chuckle escaped his lips, and despite his worries about waking her, Troy couldn't resist pressing a kiss to her lips. It wasn't anything much, just four lips pressing up against one another, but he did feel the pressure of a slight response. He lingered for a moment before pulling back, memorizing the way her lips molded against his, wanting to savor the feeling for many months to come. Troy reopened his eyes and immediately felt a smile stretch onto his features at the look on Gabriella's face. It was as though he was still kissing her with her eyes shut and her lips puckered. It was adorable, and before he knew what he was doing, he felt himself kissing her again.

"Mmm…" Gabriella moaned against his lips, Troy feeling one of her arms curling around his neck, "I like this alarm clock."

Troy smiled against her lips, "You're too beautiful for your own good."

"Liar." Gabriella accused.

"Nuh uh."

"Yeah huh." Gabriella retorted, "Is it still raining?"

"Yep."

"What are you doing awake?"

"Thinking."

"Uh oh."

"Watch it, Montez." Troy shot back, receiving a giggle from Gabriella in response. Her eyes were cracked open slightly, but she was keeping them closed for the most part, "I've made a decision."

"A decision on what?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, "Did you name your album? My iTunes would be very appreciative."

"I want you to take the job." The words surprised Troy almost as much as they surprised Gabriella once they spilled from his lips. Gabriella's eyes shot open, and even in the darkness, Troy could tell that had not been what she had expected him to say.

"What?"

"I want you to take the job." Troy repeated, except this time he knew what he was going to say. He wanted her to take the job. Well, maybe that wasn't true, but he wanted her happy, and doing what she loved made her happy. His fears, no matter how justified or unjustified they were, would never trump that. "I'm gonna make sure I have a couple of weeks off after you graduate so that I can help you move to New York."

Gabriella shook her head, "No, Troy…"

"You wanna work for this guy, right?" Troy cut her off, "This Denny guy, he's the best, right?"

"He's good," Gabriella confirmed, "but he's not the best. There are a ton of lawyers in LA…"

"But none that have offered you jobs." Troy pointed out, "Krista's right, this is the opportunity of a lifetime."

Gabriella was getting upset, if the look on her face didn't give her away, the edge in her voice did, "Krista is an infatuated fan who would do anything to get you to notice her." she retorted, pushing up from her spot and into a sitting position, "Where is this coming from? What has changed between us?"

Troy shook his head as he sat up with her, "Nothing's _changed _between us, this is just a huge opport…"

"I don't care." Gabriella interjected, "I care about you, I care about _us_."

"I care about you too." Troy told her, "I love you, which is why I can't just let you give up your career for me."

"No one's giving up their career." Gabriella corrected, "I'll get a job in LA."

"And what if you don't?" Troy asked suddenly, "What if you move to LA thinking you'll get a job and you don't?" Gabriella opened her mouth to speak but Troy cut her off, "You won't let me buy you a necklace without jumping down my throat. What happens when I pay off your student loans?"

"That won't happen." Gabriella insisted.

"But what if it does?" Troy pushed, "I don't want you to regret anything in your life, Gabriella, and I feel that if you pass up this opportunity, you will."

"So that's it?" Gabriella asked, tears brimming the edge of her eyes, "You're just breaking up with me?"

"_No_!" Troy said immediately, "Baby, no! I just feel that you need to go to New York. It'll be no different than now, you'll just be in New York."

"I don't want to be in New York!" Gabriella said exasperatedly, "I want to be with _you_! Why can't you understand that?"

Troy shook his head, "Baby, you'll regret it if you don't go."

Gabriella blinked, feeling a few tears escaping down the length of her cheek, "I have _never_ regretted a minute of my life spent with you. No matter what we've been through, good or bad, I have never regretted it because all of it led me to where I am now."

Troy nodded, "Yes, but in the future…"

"I still won't regret it." Gabriella finished for him, "Troy, I don't let you buy me things because I don't want people to think that I'm with you for money or fame, but I'd let you buy me everything if it meant the difference between being with you and not being with you."

"We'll still be together," Troy told her, "no distance would make me let you go, but this…"

Troy stopped suddenly when Gabriella brought her hands up to his shoulders and shoved with all of her might. Troy merely swayed, but her push was enough to throw him mentally off balance, "No!" her finger was suddenly in his face, "Okay? Got it? _No!_ Nothing you say is going to make me change my mind. In fact, I've already turned down the job."

"No you haven't."

"Yes I have." Gabriella retorted, "And Mr. Dupree completely understood."

"No he didn't, because you haven't told him."

"Okay, I haven't." Gabriella relented, "But I will first thing tomorrow and there's nothing you can do to change it." Gabriella plopped back down onto the mattress, her back facing Troy, obviously upset with him, "I will graduate," she continued, "I will move to LA, I will move into your apartment, and I will have a job. Deal with it."

Troy studied her for a moment, taking in her words, "You're sure this is what you want?"

"Am I sure?" Gabriella asked exasperatedly, turning to send him a look, "Troy, I've been sure you were the one for me since I was seventeen. I'd rather work for the band then spend any amount of time away from you ever again."

Troy lifted his eyebrows, "You'd work for the band?"

"Troy!" Gabriella groaned, "Would you _please_ try and act like your twenty four years old?"

"This is what you want?" Troy asked, "Truly what you want? There isn't even a part of you that wants to go work for this guy?"

"Of course there is," Gabriella told him, "Troy, I'm a lawyer, I love a challenge." Gabriella sighed before giving him a small smile, "But living with you is a far greater challenge."

Troy rolled his eyes, sending her a look, "Gabi…"

Gabriella shifted, pushing back up, wrapping her arms around Troy's neck, "Love is about being both selfless and selfish." She shook her head slightly, "You're really good at being selfless, but I really wish you'd selfish for once." Gabriella looked down, her voice thick with tears, "These past six years have been so hard…"

"Hey…" Troy started attempting to lift Gabriella chin, "Baby, please don't cry."

Gabriella pressed herself up against his chest, and Troy wrapped his arms around her, "I just want to be together," Gabriella mumbled out, "is that too much to ask?"

Troy buried his head into her hair, inhaling her scent, "No."

Gabriella sniffed, lifting her head to look at Troy, "No?"

Troy smiled slightly, "I already cleared out two drawers for you."

Gabriella smiled, releasing a small chuckle, "You have six drawers."

Troy shrugged, "So sue me, I have a lot of $400 pairs of jeans." He lifted his hand, wiping away the few tears that had managed to escape her eyes, "I love you, I'll always love you."

Gabriella nodded, "I love you too."

Gabriella's eyes fell shut when she felt Troy's lips fuse with her own, his kisses much more urgent than the previous ones. Gabriella's arms locked around his neck, and Troy easily tightened his grip around her own waist. "You have an early class tomorrow." Troy mumbled against her lips.

Troy's hands had already begun to push up the bottom of her tank top, "I'll skip." She whispered back.

Gabriella felt her back hit the mattress, "I'm a bad influence on you."

"The worst." Troy didn't at all resist as Gabriella pulled his head down to hers, his mouth hot and heavy on hers. His forehead rested against hers when they finally broke apart, both panting as the oxygen seemed to become thinner and thinner. Cracking open his eyes, Troy found Gabriella's still closed, her full lips still puckered, just like when she had woken up. And just like when she had woken up, Troy couldn't resist leaning down and kissing her again.


	11. Ornament

**A/N:** Hehe...I couldn't resist. This is late but I got busy with family and stuff, so I hope everyone had/has a Merry Christmahanakwanza and a very special New Year!

* * *

"_When she's trying to be cute with me, she sticks her bottom lip out, pouting and making cute noises. I laugh every time."_

_

* * *

_

"Ouch."

The corners of Troy's mouth twitched as he attempted to keep a straight face, knowing that laughing at his girlfriend while she was in pain wouldn't bode well for him.

"Like, mega ouch."

This time he couldn't control the snort that escaped his lips, and despite that his eyes were closed, he expected the small hand that came into contact with his bicep, shoving him with all the might her tired muscles could muster. "Stop making fun of me!"

An involuntary shiver ran down his spine causing goose bumps to appear on the skin of his shoulders exposed to the cool December Colorado air from her shove, "I didn't say anything!" Troy defended quickly, sinking back down into the steaming water of the hot tub the pair was soaking their sore muscles in.

"The implication was there."

Cracking his eyes open, Troy let his head fall to the side, sending the brunette seated next to him a look, "There was no implication."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, keeping her eyelids clamped shut, "There totally was." She retorted, "And it's not my fault you _dragged_…"

"Dragged?" Troy interrupted, "You're the one who's been bouncing off the walls all week in anticipation for this vacation."

"Christmas," Gabriella corrected, "I've been excited for Christmas, not the opportunity for you to kill me."

Shaking his head, Troy let his eyes fall shut once more, allowing the warm water to sooth his sore muscles. The pair was in Breckenridge for Christmas and New Years, staying in a home Troy had rented through his realtor. The snow, which they could see from the balcony they inhabited, had been falling steady since their arrival, and taking full advantage of their close proximity to the mountain, Troy and Gabriella had gone skiing that morning. Unfortunately, it had been quite a while since either had gone skiing, and while Troy picked it back up relatively quickly, Gabriella hadn't.

"I can't move my legs." Gabriella whined, "And it's gonna be negative twenty degrees when I get out of this hot tub."

A small smirk was resting on Troy's lips, "Well, if we'd have used the Jacuzzi like I _suggested_…"

"Troy," Gabriella cut in sharply, "our parents are _right_ upstairs."

Troy moved his shoulders, showing his indifference, "I didn't care when I was seventeen, I certainly don't care now."

"I care," Gabriella rebutted, "I've _always _cared."

Troy sent her a look, "Right, that's why you made a habit of sneaking into my room the summer following graduation?"

"Sleeping together is not a crime."

Troy snorted, "Your memory's faulty if you think a whole lot of sleeping occurred those nights."

A blush crept onto her cheeks and she could feel Troy smirking in her direction, but she refused to budge, "Regardless, it's not happening."

Troy rolled his eyes, "We live together and we've been dating since high school, I think our parents know we have sex."

It was true. Gabriella had graduated from law school this past June, and after passing the bar exam in July, she had taken a job in LA and moved into his apartment. Her job wasn't ideal. She had yet to argue a case by herself in court, and as low man on the totem pole, she had to work a lot of long hours to guarantee she could have this week off, but it would be worth it in the end. She was meant to be a lawyer; this was what she was destined to do.

"You don't know that." Gabriella shot back, "My mother thinks I'm an angel."

Pushing off from the side of the hot tub, Troy was careful to keep his shoulders immersed in the hot water as he made his way to the opposite side, "Yes, and I'm pretty sure our parents thought we were virgins when we went to college as well." Settling himself on the seat opposite her, he took her leg into his hands, "Sometimes what our parents think is just wrong."

Gabriella sent him a look, "It's all your fault, you corrupted me."

Troy grinned as he began kneading her foot with his hands, attempting to work out the sore spots, "But what fun corruption it was."

Rolling her eyes, Gabriella let her head rest against the side of the tub, enjoying the feeling of Troy's hands moving up her leg, "I still can't believe they let you rent this place." Gabriella murmured, ignoring his previous comment, "It's such a beautiful house."

About a month earlier, when the two had made their plans to visit Colorado for Christmas and New Years, Troy had told her he would take care of all the accommodations and transportation. She had been weary, Troy did have a tendency to go overboard on vacations, but, at the time, Gabriella had been up to her ears in depositions and been more than willing to let him take control. She figured a private condo at one of the many resorts, or maybe even the resort where they had first met, but, as it turned out most of the lodging was full, leaving Troy to enact Plan B. Plan B being, of course, a six bedroom home right on the mountain. The house really was gorgeous. It was huge, equipped with a home theater and wine cellar, but despite how large it was, the home had an intimate feeling, and Gabriella loved it from the moment they drove up the drive way.

Troy lifted her heel to rest on his shoulder, his hands moving further up her calf, "Well, I might have told them I was thinking of purchasing the house."

Gabriella lifted her eyebrows, "You are?"

He shrugged, "I'm toying with the idea. We come up here pretty much every year, and I don't really see that stopping any time in the foreseeable future, so purchasing a house would probably be a good investment."

Gabriella snorted, "Only you would consider buying a house somewhere else _before_ you bought one in the city where you lived."

Troy's hands had moved to just above her knee, "I'm waiting until we get the chance to browse _together_." He told her pointedly, "Last time I checked, you still had to pencil me in."

"One time!" Gabriella exclaimed, "I wrote you down as an appointment _one_ time and you won't let it go. Plus," she added quickly, "at least I've been staying in the same city. _You're _the one jet setting off to New York all the time."

"I don't _jet set_ off to New York," Troy corrected, "I go there for work."

"Mm-hmm," Gabriella started, "right, and work involves being photographed at a night club at three in the morning?"

Troy sent her a look, and Gabriella could tell before he opened his mouth that he was not at all thrilled with the information she had just given him. "Really?" he asked in a monotone voice, "You don't trust me so you've taken to look at paparazzi photos of Chad and I at a club we were scheduled to appear at?"

"No!" Gabriella protested immediately, "Troy, you could probably go to a strip club and I wouldn't think you're cheating on me. This has nothing to do with trust. I just…" Gabriella paused, releasing a sigh, "I thought the whole point of living together was that we would get to see each other. I've been working such crazy hours that I'm either asleep when you get home or you're asleep when I get home."

Troy nodded, "I know it's not ideal…"

"It's less than ideal, it sucks!" Gabriella looked down, "I should've at least taken the job with the band, then I'd at least get to be around you."

Troy studied Gabriella for a moment before lowering her leg back into the warm water and moved forward so that his face was right in front of hers, "You wouldn't be happy."

Gabriella looked up immediately, "Of course I'd be…"

"You wouldn't be happy." Troy repeated, his tone firm, "I've seen you in the court room, you belong there." Gabriella looked down; she couldn't deny that she loved her job, but she loved Troy too. "I won't be traveling forever," Troy added, drawing her attention, "once you get pregnant, I'll stay home with the babies."

Groaning, Gabriella threw her head back, "Not this again." She neither flinched nor jumped when she felt Troy seize the opportunity to close the distance between them, a soft kiss dropping onto the side of her neck, "You know for someone who's afraid of commitment, you sure talk about babies a lot."

Troy pulled back, sending Gabriella a look, "Who said I'm afraid of commitment?"

Gabriella scoffed, "Please, Troy…"

Troy glanced to the side, "Please what?"

Gabriella sent him a look, as though he should be joking, "Well, I mean, come on Troy. We've been together for eight years and…well…there's procedures."

"Procedures?" Troy asked, "What are you talking about? Procedures for what?"

"Don't take this the wrong way, Troy." Gabriella tried reasoning, "I know you love me, this has nothing to do with that. There's just a process…"

The door to the balcony opened and Gabriella's attention was diverted towards the open doorway to find Troy's mother, Lucille, standing there, "Not to interrupt," she began cautiously, "just wanted to let you two know we're heading to bed."

Troy didn't seem the slightest bit distracted by the presence of his mother, "Process?" he asked Gabriella, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Sending Troy a meaningful look, Gabriella flashed a smile at Lucille, "Thanks Lucy. What's the plan for tomorrow?"

Lucille glanced between the pair wearily, but sent Gabriella a soft smile, "We figure we'll wake up, have breakfast, and then open presents." Her eyes brightened, the exact same way Troy's did when he remembered something, "Which reminds me, we put on most of the ornaments, but didn't get the chance to put all of them on. If you two wouldn't mind putting them on before bed, that'd be great."

Gabriella nodded, "Sure, see you in the morning."

Lucille's eyes moved from Gabriella to Troy, examining the lack of enthusiasm at her interruption plastered all over his features, "Troy, you either need to get into the water or out of the hot tub, you're going to catch a cold."

Troy sent her a sarcastic look, "Thanks mom, I'll take that into consideration."

Lucille disappeared back inside of the house, and before Troy could stop her, Gabriella was making her way to the edge of the hot tub, "Come on, we should get changed and do the ornaments."

"Gabi…"

"Our parents are going to get up early," Gabriella continued, swinging her legs out of the hot tub and quickly wrapping her towel around her shivering frame, "which means we should go to bed since they will be waking us up early as well."

Troy shut his eyes, sighing, "Gabriella…"

Gabriella practically jogged over to the door, desperate for either the heat or the end of their conversation, which…Troy wasn't sure, "I get the shower first." Opening his mouth to stop her once more, Troy was merely met with the sound of the balcony door swinging shut.

* * *

"These ornaments are so adorable!"

Troy glanced up from the box he was digging through, smiling at Gabriella as she observed one of the many pictures of Troy his parents had made into an ornament. The pair had showered and changed into their pajama pants before tackling the ornaments their parents had left for them. Gabriella had made a beeline for the Bolton family ornaments while Troy had taken to sifting through Gabriella's family, both picking and choosing their favorite ornaments to hang.

"You're so cute in your Power Ranger pajamas." Gabriella gushed, observing the ornament in her hands.

Troy rolled his eyes, pulling an ornament from its tissue paper confines, "I don't know," he lifted the ornament he had just retrieved, "it hard to compete with you at your ballet recital."

Gabriella squinted at the ornament, observing the picture, "That's not a recital. That's just the phase I went through where I wore my leotard and tutu everywhere I went."

Troy smiled softly, surveying the picture once more, "That's most definitely going on there."

Gabriella stood up from her sitting position, gathering the pile of ornaments she had selected into her arms, "We can't put _every _ornament that has a picture of me up on the tree."

Troy handed her the box of ornaments he had separated, "Sure we can."

Gabriella sent him a look, adding her own ornaments to the box, "No we can't." she said firmly, turning towards the towering tree they had set up in the living room, "And adding more photos of me won't stop me from putting up the naked picture of you."

Troy groaned, throwing his head back, Gabriella grinning as she climbed the step ladder to hang the ornaments. During their searching, Gabriella had discovered an ornament of Troy when he was a baby, lying on his front, grinning at the camera, and as naked as the day he was born. Troy had sworn his mother had promised him she would burn it, and told Gabriella they would not be putting that picture on their tree, but Gabriella's decision was unchanged.

"No one wants to see my naked ass on the tree." Troy tried to reason.

"I disagree," Gabriella commented, studying the ornament as she hung it from the tree, "you're tush is adorable."

Troy rolled his eyes, "I disagree, I've seen _way_ better." He told her, his eyes moving to study her backside as she stretched to hang an ornament from a higher branch.

Gabriella turned to look at him, "Troy…"

His eyes snapped to her face, "No."

Gabriella's bottom lip stuck out, her eyes turning doe-ish, as she attempted her best puppy dog face, "Please?"

"No."

This time she didn't respond, merely keeping up her face while making a whimper sound, something she knew Troy couldn't resist, "Uh…" he groaned, "dammit woman…"

Grinning in victory, she spun back around, returning to the task at hand. "I think this should be plenty of ornaments."

Rolling his eyes, Troy nodded his head in agreement, seeing no point in him continuing to argue with her. Troy began gathering the loose pieces of tissue paper and depositing them back into the ornament box, "So about earlier…" Troy knew he didn't need to elaborate on the fact that he was referring to their earlier conversation when he saw Gabriella freeze in her search for the perfect branch, "What process are you talking about?"

Gabriella blinked for a moment, glad her back was towards him, contemplating her answer, "It's not important, Troy." She said softly, placing one of Troy's ornaments onto the tree.

Pushing up from the ground, Troy grabbed the last loose ornament, "It sounded pretty important." He observed, "I mean, you think I'm not committed to you."

"I don't think that." Gabriella told him, "I _never_ said that."

Troy sent her a look, "Okay, fine, afraid of commitment."

Gabriella stepped down the ladder, still not turning towards him, "Well, you are."

"I'm not!" Troy protested.

Gabriella shifted the ladder over to the opposite side of the tree, "You say that, but actions speak louder than words."

Troy scoffed, "What actions?"

"No actions!" Gabriella practically exploded, turning to face him, "No actions, Troy."

"We just moved in together," Troy pointed out, "that's a _huge_ step."

"That's a huge step for people who are twenty years old," Gabriella corrected, "not twenty six, and not after eight years together." Troy opened his mouth to speak, but Gabriella cut him off, "Troy, I don't want to argue about this. It's Christmas and it's stupid."

"But it's obviously bothering you." Troy pointed out.

"It's not _bothering_ me," Gabriella started, "I just find it funny that you keep talking about children and a life together when you won't even contact your realtor to buy a house."

"I told you, I'm waiting for _you_."

"Fine!" Gabriella said, lifting her hands in mock surrender, "I take it back, you _love_ commitment. That's why it took you a year and a half to admit you loved me."

"That's not fair," Troy argued, "you were my first serious girlfriend, I didn't know what love was at that point."

"Whatever," Gabriella said dismissively, "I can finish these ornaments, go to bed, Troy."

The finality of her tone left no room for argument, but Troy wasn't giving in so easily. Taking a deep breath, he glanced down at the ornament he was toying with, contemplating his words carefully. "You know, today is a very significant day for me."

Gabriella had fished out the next ornament she planned on hanging, "Oh really?"

Troy nodded, "Yes."

Gabriella kept her focus on the tree in front of her, "No doubt. Christmas is significant for most people."

Troy shook his head, "No, although Christmas is important, I was more referring to Christmas Eve eight years ago."

Gabriella retrieved another ornament from the box, her eyes searching the tree for the best place to hang it, "If you're trying to be romantic, we met on New Years Eve, not Christmas Eve."

"I know," Troy told her, "but we wouldn't have if I hadn't caught my girlfriend at the time with her tongue down someone else's throat."

Gabriella's eyes stopped searching for a moment while her brain latched onto Troy's words. He was talking about his ex-girlfriend, Connie Bishop. She had been captain of the girls' basketball team at East High. Very much Troy's equal. Gabriella remembered Chad telling her how they dated for a few months before Gabriella had moved to Albuquerque. Gabriella didn't know much about the breakup aside from the fact that she cheated, Troy never talked about it and Gabriella never asked. In high school, part of Gabriella always thought he never talked about it because he secretly was still hurt by it, but as time passed, he simply never mentioned it and over time, Gabriella forgot.

Until now.

Gabriella turned her head, unable to resist looking at Troy. It'd been years since the name Connie Bishop was more than a bleep on his radar, there were no lingering feelings there, so where exactly was he going with this? "What?"

"I wasn't supposed to go to Colorado eight years ago." Troy explained, "I mean, I was _supposed_ to, but I talked my parents out of making me go and allowing me to stay with Chad's parents."

Gabriella blinked, her face remaining impassive, "Why?"

Troy shrugged, "I was a teenager. The thought of spending a week with my parents was a fate worse than death."

She could feel the story coming on, and she wondered if Troy knew how much it was killing her not to know. They really were open books to one another. Having spent so much time apart, phone calls became part of their daily ritual, phone calls where they talked about any and everything, and for them to have a secret from one another was just odd.

Gabriella gnawed on the inside of her lip, "But you came?"

Troy nodded, "I did. It threw my parents for a loop, but I came."

Gabriella quirked an eyebrow, "Why?"

Troy cocked his head to the side, glancing down, "Chad called it anger. My mom called it heartbreak. My dad called it crazy. I don't know if it was that I was so upset that I had caught her cheating on me or embarrassed because everyone expected us to be perfect for one another. Either way, I just knew I had to get out of the town, but it wasn't until that party that I knew it was fate that had brought me there."

Gabriella shut her eyes, a blush creeping onto her cheeks, "Troy…"

Troy took two giant steps towards her, closing the gap between them, "I wanna give you one of your Christmas gifts."

Her eyes snapped open, "I thought your mom said she didn't want you snooping or mooching any gifts before Christmas morning."

Troy smiled, "This isn't for me, it's for you." Lifting his hands, he produced the ornament he had been playing with, resting it in the palms of his hands, "Merry Christmas."

Gabriella's eyes widened at the ornament, her eyes taking in the log cabin shape surrounding an older photo of he and Gabriella bundled up in their skiing equipment on one of their previous trips, complete with 'Breckenridge' at the top, and the date at the bottom. She lifted her hand, running it over the cool clay from which the ornament was made, feeling a mixture of emotions swirl within her.

Christmas was a very important time for both families, but especially for Gabriella's family. Growing up, Gabriella's father had been very into Christmas, and especially adamant about it remaining a family holiday. No friends allowed, no outside interaction, just the three of them spending the time together. Once he had passed, Gabriella's mother had done her best to keep with tradition, but once Troy and Gabriella became serious, it wasn't as easy to keep the holidays separate. However, pieces still remained. There were no combined ornaments, each family did their separate Christmas before doing the joint one, and while he wasn't sure she was doing it on purpose, their ornaments remained on separate sides of the tree.

This would be their first joint ornament.

Troy was smiling slightly at her reaction, "Merry Christmas." He repeated.

Gabriella knew he was speaking, but her brain was so focused on the ornament that it couldn't comprehend what he was saying, "I don't know, Troy." She started wearily, "My dad, he just…I mean, I'd have rather he'd have caught us having sex than exchanging Christmas ornaments."

"Gabi…"

"It's not that we won't start our ornament collection together," Gabriella continued, picking up the ornament from his hand, "we will, just not…"

Gabriella's words dissolved into a gasp, the ornament she had just picked up slipping from her fingertips as her hand came up to cover her mouth. Her cheeks instantly flushed with both shock an embarrassment, while her chocolate eyes memorized every facet of the diamond ring sitting in the middle of Troy's cupped hands.

"I'm not afraid of committing myself to you." Troy whispered, causing Gabriella's eyes to snap up, meeting his, "Maybe once upon a time I was afraid of it, but I've never not seen my future with you."

Troy took a step back, lowering himself down onto one knee, Gabriella's eyes, if possible, widening further as they followed him down onto the carpet, "I love you," he began, his voice almost breathless, "I think I've loved you from the first moment you opened your mouth on New Years Eve all those years ago. I may have not known what love was at the time, but I most definitely knew that what we had was different from anything I had ever or would ever feel again."

"It's difficult, it's painful, it's wonderful, it's…you're everything I ever wanted." Troy admitted, "Sometimes I miss you so much it hurts inside and other times, like today, we're at each other's throats and I don't know how we could possibly survive a lifetime together. But I know we can, because I know that when I look at you, I can't possibly see myself with anyone else but you. Marrying you, living with you, having children with you, and growing old with you."

He reached forward, grabbing her hand, and Gabriella could already feel the tears welling in her eyes, "I know you're getting impatient, I never really thought that you'd think I didn't want to be with you, but I swear I haven't been stalling because I didn't want to be with you, it was just because I wanted everything to be perfect. But first you had to finish college, then you had to finish law school, and then your graduation party wasn't the right place to do it…" Troy momentarily shut his eyes, attempting to stop his rambling, "But then I saw this house and I just _knew_ it had to be here."

Troy swallowed and Gabriella felt a tear roll down her cheek, "You put up with a lot of shit from me, Gabriella. We both know my job isn't conducive to being normal and raising a family, but you've never once complained about it, and without you, there's no chance in hell I'd be where I am today. You're not perfect, you're obsessive about your iTunes and gas tank, and you have a kick that rivals professional soccer players in your sleep, but I realize that all those little things that I love about you are all the things that make you…you, and I wouldn't change any of them for the world." Troy gripped her hand a little tighter, and Gabriella held her breath in anticipation, "So Gabriella Montez, if I haven't already bored you to death with this mushy crap, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife."

Gabriella didn't even get the chance to uncover her mouth before a voice hissed from across the room, "Say yes!"

Gabriella and Troy turned their heads immediately, finding Maria Montez and Lucille Bolton peering around the corner, both of their faces scrunched up as if they were about to burst into tears. Crap, Troy knew he shouldn't have told his mother.

Troy's eyes widened, "Mom!" he growled, obviously not thrilled to find them there.

Lucille stepped out, bringing her hand to cover her mouth in an attempt to prevent herself from crying, "Oh honey, that was so sweet."

While Troy was mentally shooting daggers his mother's way, Gabriella quickly turned her head back towards him, sniffling slightly as a few tears escaped down her cheeks, "Yes." She swallowed as Troy's hopeful eyes connected with hers, "Yes, Troy, I will marry you."

Troy was up in a second, and before Gabriella could even comprehend what he was doing, Troy had swept her up into his arms, spinning her in a circle, "YES!" he yelled, no longer caring if anyone was sleeping in the house. Her feet hit the ground momentarily, but just as the room stopped spinning, she felt her lips immediately become occupied with Troy's. Not that she minded, wrapping her arms around his neck and securing them into place. The couple was jarred out of their kiss when a flash erupted next to them.

"Gorgeous," Maria exclaimed, studying the picture on her digital camera, "okay, this time, kiss and hold."

"Mom!" Gabriella exclaimed.

Maria's eyes widened, "Oh, right, the ring first…"

Gabriella sent her a look, "Mom…"

"It's okay," Troy assured her, taking her left hand, "they won't stop, so we might as well give them their shots." He glanced to the side, letting the ring hover over her third finger, "Preparing to put on the ring." He warned; his prediction accurate that Maria immediately began taking pictures.

Gabriella smiled, her giddiness from what had just happened as well as watching her own mother's enthusiasm kicking in. Once the ring was in place, Gabriella's mother snapped another array of photos as Gabriella admired it. It was gorgeous, the white gold band was diamond encrusted with a single princess cut diamond resting in the center of the ring. It fit snugly on her third finger, and Gabriella marveled at how it sparkled in the dim firelight. "It's beautiful."

"I've had it for a while now," Troy admitted, "I was hoping your ring size hadn't changed."

Gabriella grinned up at him, sliding her hand up to play with the hairs at the nape of his neck, "It fits perfectly, thank you." Leaning in, she pecked him on the lip softly, "I love you."

"I love you." Troy countered, mumbling his words against her lips, grinning as he reconnected her lips with his, neither one noticing Maria bending down to retrieve their ornament.

"What's this?"

The pair broke apart reluctantly, turning their attention to Maria, "Oh," Troy spoke up first, "that's nothing…"

"It's our ornament." Gabriella corrected, snaking her arm around Troy's back as she leaned into his chest, "Our _first _ornament." Troy glanced wearily down at Gabriella, but she reassured him with her smile

Troy's face split into a grin, leaning down to quickly peck her once more before turning his head towards the tree, "Okay, where do you want to put it?"

Gabriella's eyes swept through the branches, searching for the perfect spot, "Here…" taking the ornament from her mother, Gabriella leaned up on her tiptoes, reaching to hang the ornament on one of the upper branches, Troy assisting her in guiding it onto the branch, exactly between the two halves of the tree. "Perfect." She observed.

Troy nodded, smiling down at her, "Perfect."


	12. Pretzel

**A/N:** Okay, so at Z's fanforum fanfic thread, we've sort of been doing this 'post-things-you-don't-want-to-continue' or just 'post-random-things' days and it got my mind stirring on things I've started that I wanted to finish but never got the chance and this was one of them. It follows the same storyline and is literally a continuation of what was happening before (except this is two years later). I hope you guys like it!

* * *

"_As soon as I get into bed, she will pretzel her legs around my one leg and lay her head right on my chest…in five minutes or less, she's fast asleep."_

_

* * *

_

He awoke with a start.

Shooting up in bed, twenty eight year old Troy Bolton let his eyes dart around the dark bedroom he currently inhabited inside of his three bedroom condo he owned in Studio City, California. With his chest heaving and a slight sweat peppering his skin, Troy released a long breath as he ran a hand through his recently trimmed locks, mentally calming himself from the dream he had awoken from. He was seriously starting to get sick of this. He hadn't even left yet and already the nightmares were plaguing him, how was he supposed to survive the next four and a half months?

Releasing a sigh, Troy extended his arm to the opposite side of the bed, expecting to find his wife resting peacefully, his head turning to the side when he found the space vacant. He should've been surprised when he found her side empty, but he wasn't even remotely alarmed. This wouldn't be the first night this had happened, and, despite both Troy expressing his dislike for her doing it and her current condition, he doubted this would be the last. Troy checked the clock as he made his way out of bed, and groaned when he found it to be nearing four in the morning. She may not have had anything in the morning, but he did, and considering that his job was already naturally pissing him off, he didn't need to add sleep deprivation into the mix.

He found her in the spare bedroom they had dictated as her office, and despite the early hour, Troy couldn't help but stop and stare at the heavenly creature in front of him. Despite that she was wearing simple jeans, an oversized sweatshirt, no makeup, and her long dark hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, Troy never thought she looked so radiant. Everyone had told him that she would only grow more beautiful with every passing day, and Troy believed them, but seeing it, waking up to it every morning, only further cemented Troy's belief that Gabriella was, and would remain, the most beautiful creature on this planet.

Closing the distance between them, Troy noiselessly shut the lid to Gabriella's open laptop and switched off the light above her desk. "We really need to stop meeting this way." Troy started as he slipped an arm around her back and looped the other beneath her legs, "I won't tolerate it much longer," he continued, lifting her from her position on the chair, "I will, eventually, put my foot down."

Gabriella's head fell against his chest, and Troy struggled to not wake her as he switched off the light with his elbow, "Did you grunt as you picked me up?"

Troy wasn't at all surprised to hear his wife's voice float through the air, he was the heavy sleeper, not her, "Not a grunt of difficulty," Troy clarified, "_never_ a grunt of difficulty, you, my dear, are light as a feather."

Maneuvering his way out of the office, he weaved his way through the darkness of their condo, back towards their bedroom, "That's right I am." Gabriella mumbled, burying her head deeper into his chest, "Even if I know you're lying, you're never allowed to show it because it's your fault."

Troy snorted as he arrived at the bed, depositing Gabriella onto her side, "Here we go," he started with an eye roll, "my dad said it was only a matter of time before the blame started."

Gabriella smiled, keeping her eyes shut, "Mmm…" Troy paused for a moment, studying her face as he watched her easily fall back asleep. Leaning in, he placed a brief kiss on her temple before pulling back. Yanking open the drawer, Troy began digging through the clothing tucked inside of their dresser. Hearing his rummaging, yet refusing to open her eyes, Gabriella's eyebrows furrowed, "What are you doing?"

"Nonya." Troy answered without a beat.

Cracking open her eyes, Gabriella turned her head in search of the time, "Nonya?"

"Nonya business."

Lifting her hands to rub the sleep from her eyes, Gabriella groaned at both his comment and the time, "How mature." She deadpanned.

Locating the items he was searching for, Troy shut the drawer and returned to the bed, "I know," he commented, dropping the clothes onto the mattress beside her, "you're rather lucky to have such a mature husband."

Gabriella was fighting to keep her eyes open, even when she felt Troy's hands on the button of her jeans, "What are you doing?"

"Obviously I'm going to remove your clothing and have my wicked way with you," Troy muttered sarcastically as he began slipping the jeans down the length of her legs, "it has always been a dream of mine for you to fall asleep on me during sex."

Gabriella remained quiet for a moment while Troy slid on the shorts he had picked out, letting the silence surround them, "You had your nightmare again, didn't you?"

Troy sighed, "I woke up because my wife wasn't next to me."

Moving her arms above her head, Troy began pulling her sweatshirt and tank top over her head, "Troy…"

"It's not a big deal." Troy defended, tossing her clothes into the hamper across the room.

Gabriella opened her eyes, staring up at him in the darkness, "You're losing sleep over it; that makes it a big deal." Ignoring her, Troy slid his hand behind her back, reaching for the strap on her bra, only to have Gabriella catch his hand, effectively stopping him, "Hey…"

"It's not a big deal," Troy repeated, "and even if it was, worrying about it isn't going to change anything."

Gabriella felt guilt seep into her as he snatched away his hand and purposely avoided eye contact. It was a silent fight they had been having for a while now and despite that the looming deadline was approaching rapidly, the pair was no closer to a resolution then they were two and a half months earlier.

It shouldn't be this hard. They were both reasonable people, and there was a reasonable solution to the problem. Troy was going on tour. This wasn't a surprise to either one of them. When the original release date had been slated for their newest album an attached tour date had also been planned. It would suck, Gabriella would miss him, but this wasn't the first tour they would weather. They would call, they would Skype, and before they knew it the four months would be over. Or at least that had been the idea up until two and a half months ago.

Tossing her bra to the side, Gabriella winced slightly as she pulled on the sports bra, god she couldn't wait for that to go away. "You know we'll be fine," Gabriella told Troy as he unfolded one of his t-shirts he had gotten out for her to sleep in, "you _know_ we'll be fine." She repeated, grabbing his hand again and bringing it down to her stomach, resting it on the side of her ever-growing bump.

Because two and a half months ago, Troy and Gabriella had found out they were expecting their first child.

The past ten weeks should've been some of the happiest moments of their lives. Telling their parents, telling their friends, all of these things should have been filled with joy and pure bliss, not tension and frustration.

Troy shook his head, "I don't know that." He argued, staring down at her stomach in the dark, "All I know is you will be between four and eight months pregnant, and I will be between ten and three thousand miles away from you."

Gabriella pushed up, "I cannot just leave."

"Why not?" Troy asked firmly, "You don't even like your job, and at most you'd spend four more months there before you took maternity leave."

Gabriella looked down, knowing he was right, "I can't just quit," she lifted her eyes back to his, "even pregnant that doesn't look good."

"You are an excellent attorney," Troy argued, "you will find a job after the baby is born. You can even work for the band if you're worried about gaps in your work record." Troy took her hands, squeezing them tightly, "Please, baby. This is our first child, don't make me miss all this stuff."

Gabriella sent him a look, "I thought you were going to talk to them about condensing the tour?"

"You and I both know that's not going to happen," he told her, "I signed a contract, I can't get out of this."

"I signed a contract, too." Gabriella rebutted, "I cannot just quit, and even if I could, I have to give them a month's notice…you leave in a week and a half."

"Talk to them, work with them." He pleaded, "I don't want to leave you pregnant and alone."

"My mom has said she'll come and stay with me." Troy groaned, pushing back from his position next to her, standing up from the bed and pacing across the room, "I'll call you at the first sign…"

Troy shook his head, "It won't be quick enough. I could miss the birth!"

"My job's important too, Troy." Gabriella defended.

"A job you don't even like is more important than me being present for the birth of our child?" Troy clarified, "Is that what you're saying?"

Gabriella sighed, looking down, refraining from answering his questions. Of course it wasn't more important, but traveling from city to city whilst pregnant doesn't sound like the greatest idea in the world. Then again, neither does being away from Troy for four months.

Then, it hit her.

Lifting her gaze back up to his, Gabriella felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips as she locked eyes with Troy, "What?" Troy asked, instantly noticing the difference.

Instead answering the question, Gabriella shot up in bed and out of the room, making a beeline for her office. The canister she was looking for was resting against the wall and before Troy had a chance to register that she was gone, Gabriella was back in the room.

"Oh no." Troy mumbled to himself, watching the canister in her hand.

"I will go," Gabriella started, "if you sign off on these."

Troy shook his head, "That's not fair."

"Asking me to quit my job isn't fair." Gabriella countered, "Guilt tripping me into going on tour with you isn't fair."

Troy scoffed, "That's about our baby; that," he pointed to the canister, "is about your damn kitchen."

Gabriella pointed at herself, "I am not bringing our baby into this world still living in a condo."

"Our house is out there, Gabriella." Troy started, "We do not need to build it."

"Are you kidding me?" Gabriella asked rhetorically, "Have you looked at the list of what we want? It doesn't exist, we _have_ to build it."

Troy shook his head, "No."

"Yes," Gabriella shot back, "this house has the perfect kitchen, the perfect office, it has just what _you_ want in a master bedroom and bathroom, and it even has your damn basketball court. Sign off on it!"

Troy crossed his arms, "I don't like the contractor."

"We can find a different contractor." Gabriella informed him, taking a step towards him, "Please, Troy. If you sign off on this, I will go with you. Even if it means meeting up with you in two weeks, I _will_ come. Please," she pleaded again, "we've been dragging our feet on this for two years."

Troy sighed, "I know."

"Then say yes," Gabriella started, reaching out and grabbing his hand, "they can start next week, it'll be finished by the time we get back from tour. We'll have just enough time to decorate the baby's room before he/she comes."

Troy glanced down at the canister before reaching out to take it from her, "If I say yes, you'll come with me?" Gabriella nodded immediately, attempting to prevent the smile from forming on her face, "You'll come with me and you won't complain."

Gabriella smiled, "I won't complain about coming, I'll complain…I mean, I _am_ pregnant."

Troy pursed his lips, "We will look at the plans tomorrow," he said setting them against the wall, "and if I like them…"

"You will," Gabriella cut in, "I _know _you will."

Troy smiled at her enthusiasm, "_If_ I like them," he repeated, "we'll start as soon as we find a new contractor."

Her scream reverberated through the condo, and most likely down into the other condos, but neither Gabriella nor Troy cared as she threw her arms around him, slamming her lips onto his, "Thank you," she muttered between kisses, "thank you," kiss, "thank you," kiss, "thank you."

Troy rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah…"

"You don't know how happy you've made me." Gabriella commented, burying her head in his chest, "Now we can move forward and finally feel happy about the pregnancy."

Pressing a kiss to her forehead, Troy hugged her tightly, "For the record, I _always_ felt happy about the pregnancy."

Lifting her head, Gabriella smiled up at him, "Me too." Matching her smile, Troy swooped down, pressing his lips firmly onto hers briefly before scooping her up, "What are you doing?"

"Bedtime," Troy said climbing onto the mattress, setting her down on her side before reaching down and grabbing the t-shirt she had never put on, "you need your sleep and so do I."

"Oh right," Gabriella began, taking the shirt from him, "you have that thing in the morning."

Troy nodded as he settled down on the mattress next to her, "Yep."

Gabriella pouted, "And I wanted to celebrate our new house."

Troy rolled his eyes, "Of course you do. You _only_ ever want to celebrate when I have things to do in the morning."

"That's not true." Gabriella argued, pulling the shirt over her head, "If that were true, I never would've gotten pregnant."

Troy had already shut his eyes, "Mmhmm…"

"Tomorrow," Gabriella started, laying down on her side next to Troy, snaking her legs around his and resting her head on his chest, "tomorrow we'll go out to dinner and celebrate."

Gabriella let her eyes fall shut as Troy pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "I love you."

Gabriella nodded, "Love you too…"

Five minutes later, Troy, for the first time in two and a half months, fell asleep with the knowledge that he would no longer be plagued with nightmares with the object of his dreams resting peacefully on his chest.


End file.
